Bob Howe, left, chats on-site with Tomothy McLaughlin Thursday about plans for the city of Pawtucket’s all-new Emergency Operations Center. Howe is the city’s director of emergency management. McLaughlin is Pawtucket fire chief.  Times photo/Butch Adams

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — In a perfect world, there would be no need for the building at 260 Armistice Blvd. That would be a world of no devastating fires, floods, pandemics or terrorist attacks the likes of 9/11.

However, the city of Pawtucket will be ready to face real world challenges with its new Emergency Operations Center.
Construction is currently underway to turn a vacant building behind the city’s Public Works garage into a state-of-the-art “command center.”
The building, which is being retrofitted and equipped with computers and radio systems, will allow for a unified response by public safety and other related personnel in the event of an emergency.
Robert Howe, the city’s director of emergency management, said the new set-up will allow numerous city departments and agencies to operate all of their services out of one spot in the event of a disaster or large-scale crisis. “Police, fire, rescue, emergency medical personnel, DPW or any other agency will all be able to coordinate their efforts out of one facility,” he said.
In the wake of 9/11, Howe said more attention has been paid nationwide to the need for communities to have an emergency operations center. However, he noted that even during such events as the Greenhalgh Mills fire, in which homes were lost and an entire neighborhood was threatened, a command center would have been valuable for coordinating firefighting and rescue efforts.
Howe said that the cost of the emergency operations center, which will be “upwards of $300,000,” is being paid for entirely by federal Homeland Security funding. Specifically, the city was awarded an Urban Area Security Initiative Grant, said Howe.
Fittingly, Howe said the completion date for the center is Sept. 11. He hopes to be able to hold a dedication ceremony that pays tribute to the tragic events of that date in 2001.
Once the facility is completed, Howe, a retired lieutenant on the Pawtucket Fire Department, will move his office into the facility. While he expects to be the lone tenant, he said the facility can be opened up to fully function as a command center at any time, should the need arise.