Rob Christensen

The News & Observer

March 26, 2009

RALEIGH — North Carolina will build a $56 million emergency nerve center in West Raleigh to coordinate the state’s response to hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks and other disasters.

[efoods]The new building will serve as headquarters for the N.C. National Guard. But it will also house the state Division of Emergency Management, the regional communications center for the Highway Patrol and other state agencies.

The center is among the first major public works projects in North Carolina mainly funded by the federal stimulus package, which is designed to jump-start the ailing economy. About $41.5million of the project’s cost will be paid with federal stimulus money, and the rest will come from the state.

“This project is a big win for North Carolina,” Gov. Beverly Perdue said in a statement.

“It provides a state of the art facility that will better coordinate key state services and is ready to put people to work in much needed jobs.”

The 237,000-square-foot facility will be the state command center where governors and state and federal disaster officials can oversee emergency relief efforts.

Among other things, the new center will have a wall projecting TV-camera views of highway congestion across the state, enabling officials to respond more rapidly to severe traffic tie-ups such as the one that occurred on Interstate 85 near Charlotte during an early March snowstorm.

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