Tucked behind several Lake County buildings is the construction site for the future Regional Operations and Communications Facility for the county. Work started in April.
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Called the ROC by county officials and employees, it is the sort of building people will rarely see or know about — that is until a disaster hits, or they need it personally.
“Nobody wants to think about emergency services, but in a crisis that’s all they think about,” Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, D-Lake Bluff, said. “We are building this to meet those needs.”
County officials and others responsible for the creation of the ROC officially broke ground Friday on the $53.8 million facility in Libertyville which will consolidate emergency services, making them more efficient to serve more than 600,000 residents.
“We see the need all over Lake County for emergency services.” Lake County Board Vice Chair Mary Ross Cunningham, D-Waukegan, said. “I see the need every day in my neighborhood, with ambulances flying by. This will help the county as a whole.”
Hart said when an emergency arises, a 911 call may be transferred several times before police, a fire truck or ambulance is dispatched. Though it may never be able to be quantified, the added efficiency will save lives.
“There are times, depending on where you are when you need help, that a 911 call can get transferred, sometimes more than once, causing delays when literally minutes matter between life and death,” Hart said.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, helped shepherd $1 million toward the project to help in its early states through community project funding. He said often people do not realize the importance of an emergency service center until a need arises.
“You don’t know it’s an emergency until it’s your turn to call 911 and experience the need,” he said. “With this new center, when the need to call arises, it will (reduce) the response time. That’s when it is in effect for your family.”
When complete in the summer of 2025, Deputy County Administrator Jim Hawkins said the 37,426-square-foot building will handle the 911 emergency calls for the Lake County sheriff’s office, as well as any other governmental entity which wants to join.
Hawkins said the project was 10 years in the making, starting when the Lake County Emergency Telephone System Board and other governmental entities looked at 911 consolidation in the county. Within a few years, they knew it was a good idea.
“Efforts transitioned to the actual development of an intergovernmental agreement to establish a new consolidated 911 entity in Lake County to replace the numerous partner 911 centers,” Hawkins said after the groundbreaking. “It is common sense and best practices.”
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Hawkins said Commonwealth Edison will be able to use the facility during power outages to more quickly restore service. The building will also have the latest technology for its efforts.
Sheriff John Idleburg said the building will be strong enough to keep functioning through natural disasters. It will be large enough for the “emergency telecommunicators” to work efficiently.
“The building that will soon be behind us will not only be able to withstand anything thrown at it, including tornadoes and power outages, but will also support the well-being of those who work inside its confines,” he said.
Along with the $1 million from the federal government through Schneider’s appropriation, Hart said money for the ROC also came from funds the county received from the American Rescue Plan.
Hart said the county sold $30 million in bonds to help finance the project, along with a $2 million grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Communities Foundation and $5 million from the Emergency Telephone System Board.