By Sam Wroblewski, reporting by Andrew Augustus WPRO News
Providence and state officials gathered at the city’s Emergency Management Agency building to cut the ribbon on a new expansion to the facilities.
Funded largely by federal grants, the new 9,236-foot expansion includes a garage, warehouse, offices, kitchen, full bathrooms, lockers and showers, medical clinic, laundry, sleeping quarters and a new training facility. Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Peter Gaynor said this addition makes them one of the best emergency agencies in the region.
“We wanted to build it with that regional capacity in mind because local disasters cross borders, so we could be more affected or less affected and we want to help our fellow local jurisdictions to make sure they are successful in dealing with that emergency,” said Gaynor.
Congressman David Cicilline, who also attended the event, said the new expansion makes PEMA the best equipped emergency agency in the state, which benefits more than just Providence.
“The true beneficiaries are really the whole state, because this is a state of the art emergency operations center fully equipped and fully staffed,” said Cicilline.
The expansion totaled $2.75 million and was paid for by nearly two million’s worth of federal grants. The remaining cost was covered by state and city funds.
