The newly completed Villages Sumter County Public Safety Center has received a Project of the Year Award from the West Coast Branch of the American Public Works Association’s Florida Chapter.
An award for major structures over $5 million was presented March 14 during an annual banquet at the Tampa Palms Country Club.
The 60,000-square-foot, two-story building on five acres behind Pinellas Plaza was completed late last year. It houses the northern headquarters for the sheriff’s office, the county’s emergency operations center and the 911 call and dispatch center as well as fire, ambulance and emergency medical services offices.
Holding cells for prisoners are included until they are transferred to the county jail in Bushnell.
The $30.8-million concrete structure, which moved the county’s primary emergency services from Bushnell to The Villages population center, was designed and built by Ajax Construction Co. of Oldsmar.
Walls are designed to protect the center against 200 mph winds, much stronger than those in last September’s Hurricane Irma.
A new 20,000-square-foot public safety center in Bushnell provides backup for the emergency operations center, the southern headquarters for the sheriff’s office and evidence storage.
Capital improvement bonds were sold to finance both projects.
In the 2017-18 fiscal year budget, the county also added 22 new positions to the sheriff’s office.
