Groundbreaking Set for New Public Safety Building

Cartersville officials Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. are set to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a new public safety headquarters building at 195 Cassville Road, and officials expect the real work to start very soon after.

The that will house the and Headquarters and Station No. 1 is being funded with 2007 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax dollars and is expected to be completed by September 2012.

The new 55,168-square-foot facility, which officials say will be certified a Silver-level Leadership in Environmental Engineering and Design building, will follow the .

It also will bring together two departments—a fire station now housed in an antiquated, former city hall building and a police operation now split between two offices due to lack of space. A first for the departments, police and fire areas will be constructed for their respective operations, with common areas shared between the two.

Dennis Graham Commercial Contractors and Potts Construction will serve as construction managers and more than have been awarded construction work on the building.

During the most recent city council meeting, city staffers said work would begin immediately after groundbreaking.

Locals soon may also see the demolition of the old fire station on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive begin. City leaders recently , the second part of an overall project to revamp the city's public safety facilities.