It was a landmark day June 14 for Coweta County residents using emergency dispatch services. The occasion was the long-awaited open house for the new Coweta Record Retention and 911 Center located at 195 Walt Sanders Memorial Highway off Ga. Highway 34 in Newnan.

The 24,360 square-foot facility has separate entrances and secured parking, said county spokesperson Patricia Palmer, adding that the state-of-the-art 911 Center totals 7,656 square feet and eight dispatch consoles with room to grow and is outfitted with multiple back-up systems, while the long-needed record Retention Center totals 16,704 square feet.

Formerly known as the Skate Palace, the new facility in Creekside Business and Industrial Park was purchased with SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds and phone user fees without using General Fund or property tax money, Palmer said.

“Call volume for the 9/11 center has risen every year to a current high of more than 120,000 calls per year,” Palmer said.

The 911 center provides dispatch service for Coweta County Fire Department, Newnan Fire Department, Coweta County EMS, Newnan Police, Senoia Police and Grantville Police.

The old E-911 center had been located in the basement of the county administration building downtown since May 1990, Palmer said, adding that most records had been kept at the old jail.

“Centralizing record retention has been a goal of the county for some time,” Palmer said. “The new facility will help in complying with state and federal law for maintaining records and will free other space for more appropriate uses.”

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