The study is anticipated to be completed in the next twelve months.





Skagit County





PRESS RELEASE

August 1, 2025




*Contact*

Jenn Rogers, Communications Manager

[email protected]

360-416-1300






FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Skagit County to Study Future Regional Public Safety Campus

 

The Skagit County Commissioners have allocated $285,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding to support a comprehensive facility needs assessment and feasibility study for the development and operations of a regional public safety campus (RPSC) in Skagit County. The RPSC could potentially include the co-location and daily operations for the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management with a co-located Emergency Operations Center, daily operations for Skagit 911, and a state-of-the-art facility that provides a space for different disciplines of public safety to work and train together in simulated real-life emergency situations, including fire, law enforcement, emergency communications, and emergency management.

Over the past decade, Skagit County has faced an increasing number of emergency situations and access to a regional training facility for emergency service providers has decreased. Over the past five years, Skagit County has responded to a major gasoline pipeline release, a 100-year flood, and several wildfires. Pursuit intervention techniques for local law enforcement are among critical capabilities currently underutilized because of the lack of proper training facilities. Moreover, preparedness for active threat situations and scenes of violence has become an urgent priority that cannot be adequately addressed without specialized training environments. Local emergency situations are becoming more diversified and require dedicated, wide-reaching collaboration between our emergency response agencies including law enforcement, emergency management officials, fire agencies, and emergency medical services.

A regional public safety task force was convened by Skagit County to evaluate the existing public safety training gaps and potential next steps. The task force includes public safety representatives from multiple jurisdictions across the county, and they recommended a study be conducted for a future regional training facility. The RPSC would create a unified regional training campus that elevates preparedness and response capability for our community. The facility would equip our emergency personnel with the skills and technologies necessary to effectively manage and mitigate complex safety challenges. The RPSC will address the need for a broad range of specialized training and operational facilities, catered to the diverse disciplines within public safety and emergency services. These include a firearms range, emergency vehicle operations course, multi-story live fire facility, hazmat and technical rescue training areas, classroom facility, an emergency operations center, and a 911 dispatch facility that meets modern standards.

The Skagit County Department of Emergency Management released a request for a public safety facility consultant [ [link removed] ] on March 28, 2025. The Department has chosen MAKERS architecture and urban design to conduct the comprehensive facility needs assessment and feasibility study for an RPSC. The assessment and feasibility study will include interviews, discovery of best practices, space needs assessment, property search and real-estate analysis, a rough-order-of-magnitude project cost estimate for a new or renovated facility based on space needs assessment and real estate opportunities analysis findings, and a funding and feasibility analysis, all culminating in a final report and briefing to city, town, and county elected officials. We anticipate this report to be completed within the next twelve months.

 

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Skagit County [ [link removed] ]

SKAGIT COUNTY, WASHINGTON

County Commissioners: Lisa Janicki, Peter Browning, Ron Wesen
1800 Continental Place, Suite 100
Mount Vernon, WA 98273

[email protected]

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