Chatham County’s new emergency command center reaches milestone, but won’t open for another year

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Chatham County reached a construction milestone Thursday, topping off its new Multi-Agency Public Safety Facility (MAPSF). County leaders say the building won’t be ready for at least another year, meaning emergency crews will operate through another hurricane season from their current facility.

The topping off ceremony, marked by the ceremonial steel beam signing, comes more than a decade after planning for the project began in 2012.

The roughly 104,000-square-foot facility is designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and an EF4 tornado, with wind resistance up to 190 mph.

Once complete, backup power, water and sanitation systems are designed to sustain operations for at least 72 hours without outside support.

The campus, located near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, will house the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), Chatham County E-911, the county’s non-emergency call center, the county Emergency Operations Center, and Savannah Airport Police and Public Safety, among other agency partners. The Emergency Operations Center alone is designed to support 126 response workstations.

Why the airport site

Savannah Airport Commission Chairman Steve Green, speaking at Thursday’s event, said the site’s location was central to the facility’s purpose.

“The nearest airport is always the initial and main point of recovery for its region,” Green said.

CEMA Director Dennis Jones said the new facility will be a dramatic upgrade from the county’s current, cramped operations.

“So 911 is in a cramped location,” Jones said.

“We’re going to get five to six times more space than what they have now.”

A yearslong process

The project has faced repeated delays. The facility broke ground in May 2024, after the county was forced to rebid the project three separate times when earlier contractors violated Chatham County’s procurement process, according to prior reporting by WTOC.

The county ultimately hired Reeves Young, a Sugar Hill-based construction firm, awarding a $78.8 million contract in May 2025.

At Thursday’s event, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis said the project’s cost has grown since it began, from an original estimate of roughly $75 million to $78 million to what he said will ultimately total nearly $130 million.

Ellis defended the project’s cost and timeline, saying the facility is necessary given the county’s hurricane risk.

“We know we’re prone to hurricanes. And those people who stay here, their lives are in our hands.”

What’s next

County officials said Thursday they expect the facility to be completed within the next year.

Until the facility opens, 911 dispatch, emergency management and airport public safety operations will continue at their current locations, including the county’s 911 center on Chatham Parkway — a facility officials have said is limited in its ability to maintain communications during major storms.

Hurricane season in coastal Georgia typically peaks in September, according to the county’s website, meaning the new facility is not expected to be operational before at least the 2027 hurricane season begins.