Union County Breaks Ground on New 911 Dispatch Center Amid Aging Facility Concerns

Photo from the Union County Fire and Rescue Facebook page.

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Construction is advancing on a new state-of-the-art 911 dispatch center in Union County, replacing a dilapidated 60-year-old building that once served as the area's hospital and nursing home.

The Union County 911 Dispatch Center, the county's primary Public Safety Answering Point, handles emergency and non-emergency calls, dispatching responders from law enforcement, fire departments, ambulances, public works and various local, state and federal agencies. Officials say the upgrade will modernize operations and enhance service for residents and visitors in the North Georgia mountain county.

The current facility, located off Hunt Martin Street, has outlived its usefulness, prompting years of planning for a replacement. Contracts for the $ project were awarded this spring, with groundbreaking in May.

The new 2,500-square-foot structure will consolidate the dispatch center with Union County mapping services and provide storage for multiple county offices, streamlining administrative functions.

Progress has been steady since site preparation wrapped up in May. Concrete walls were poured in June, followed by slab work through July and August. Steel framing and additional site improvements were completed last month, and crews have now started erecting interior walls.

In parallel, county officials have overhauled contracts for critical technology infrastructure, including next-generation 911 call handling, telephone systems, public safety radios, computer-aided dispatch software, administrative lines, high-speed fiber optics, recording equipment, consoles and mapping tools. These systems must be integrated during construction and rigorously tested before the center goes live.

"This is a cornerstone project for public safety in Union County," said a statement from the Union County Fire Department, which collaborates closely with the dispatch center. "It will deliver more efficient and effective responses, protecting our families and communities for years to come."

The facility is slated for completion in summer 2026, marking a significant investment in the county's emergency response capabilities.