New Site Selected for Illinois State Emergency Operations Center

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced last Thursday the site for the new state-of-the-art State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). The proposed site, pending final approval by the federal government, is located on Springfield's east side.

"The site is ideal because of its close proximity to a major highway and because it's quickly and easily accessible to all state agency representatives that will be reporting to the center in the event of an emergency," said Blagojevich.

The center is set to be operational by fall 2005 and will replace the outdated State Emergency Operations Center near the Capitol complex.

"The new State Emergency Operations Center will be a big step forward in Illinois' ability to respond to any sort of disaster," Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director William Burke said. "Not only will we have state-of-the-art communications and information technology in the new SEOC, but we will be bringing our telecommunications center, response center, terrorism intelligence center and radiological assessment center together under one roof."

Plans for the center include more space than the existing SEOC, as well as adjacent meeting space. Wireless voice communications and videoconferencing capabilities will increase the SEOC staff's ability to consult with the governor and other emergency operations centers around the state, including the emergency operation center in Cook County. Also slated for the site is the construction of a helipad allowing officials to be quickly transported to a disaster scene nearly anywhere in the state, making DuQuoin, Perry County in southern Illinois as immediately accessible to an emergency response team as Sterling, Whiteside County in northwestern Illinois.

The funding that will be used to build the new center was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in September 2003; the $9.3 million grant was the second highest in the nation among states vying for a share of the $50 million in total grants. The state must provide a 25 percent match, which can include the value of state land used for the facility and architectural or engineering work conducted by the Capital Development Board (CDB) or other state agencies. Under terms of the federal grant, the facility must be completed or nearly completed within 18 months.