(BIVN) – A new Emergency Call Center was blessed and dedicated in Hilo on Monday.

The 17,127-square-foot facility is located on Mohouli Street, and will house dispatch for the Police and Fire departments.

“After decades of planning, we now have a state-of-the-art facility where our Police and Fire dispatchers can work side by side,” said Mayor Kimo Alameda in a news release. “This new Emergency Call Center represents a major investment in public safety and, importantly, supports the essential around-the-clock work of these dedicated professionals.”

Photo from video courtesy the County of Hawaiʻi

The blessing event coincided with National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which runs April 13th to April 19th.

“What better way to honor our hard-working police communications officers during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week than by blessing a brand-new facility that provides our dedicated team of men and women with spacious work zones, top-of-the-line technology, and modern amenities,” said Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz.

From the Hawaiʻi County news release:

Construction of the $31 million state-of-the-art facility began in late 2021 and was built by Hensel Phelps Construction. Designed to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes, the emergency call center features a conference room, briefing room, training room, cafeteria, workout room, locker room, bathrooms, and showers.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to see this come to fruition,” said Fire Chief Kazuo Todd. “The combined police and fire dispatch center has been a long time coming, and I am just glad to be able to see it actually completed. I’m looking forward to the future for our departments working together in service of the public and making the best possible outcome happen whenever we can.”

From left to right: Fire Chief Kazuo Todd, Mayor Kimo Alameda, Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz, and Deputy Police Chief Reed Mahuna (County of Hawaiʻi)

The ceremony included the reading of a proclamation from Mayor Alameda, a certificate from Hawai‘i County Council Chairman Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba, and the presentation of a plaque from Laura Mallery-Sayre of the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation, which donated gym equipment for the facility. Speakers included Chief Moszkowicz and Chief Todd. Chaplain Renee Godoy, who heads the volunteer Police Chaplain program, conducted the invocation and blessing.

“This October marks 50 years since our current headquarters, including our dispatch center, opened in 1975 and the new facility is a much-anticipated improvement,” said Chief Moszkowicz.

Photo from video courtesy the County of Hawaiʻi

Currently, there are seven police communications officers and two fire communications officers working per shift. The new facility was built with an eye toward future growth and can comfortably fit 13 police communications consoles and nine fire communications consoles.

Plans for the new facility have been in the works since the early 2000s. In a fortuitous turn of events, police and fire dispatch personnel were able to provide input into the final design of the facility’s layout. Original plans called for separate walled-off areas for police and fire personnel. However, since May 2023, the Police Department has provided room in their dispatch center for fire communications staff, who had previously been housed in the Central Fire Station on Kino‘ole Street in Hilo.

After working in the same room with each other for several months, police and fire dispatchers said they wanted to be integrated into one operational area in the new facility. “It was a wonderful development because their suggestions were able to be incorporated into the final design, making it truly theirs based on their experience and needs,” said Chief Moszkowicz.

County officials say the current dispatch facilities at police headquarters will be repurposed as a back-up dispatch facility.