California Construction News staff writer
Construction in underway on the San Bernardino County Valley Communications Center, a $124 million project.
“In San Bernardino County, we are constantly in battle against the weather and natural disasters,” said Board of Supervisors Chair and Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe. “The Valley Communications Center will provide the space and the technology to bring all of our local, state, federal and volunteer allies together in one place to plan, prepare, respond and recover in service to our residents.”
Griffin Structures is the program and construction manager and CannonDesign is the project architect.
Designed to be earthquake-resistant and self-sufficient, the three-story, LEED Gold-certified, 75,085-square-foot structure with a 200-foot-tall communication tower will sit on 6.85 acres at the southeast corner of East Rialto Avenue and Lena Road in San Bernardino.
Construction is expected to be completed in October 2025. The project’s green features include Gold LEED certification, and water and energy efficiency and conservation elements.
“The new building includes state-of-the-art technology and ergonomics to support the mission of our dispatch professionals and will increase public safety,” Dicus said. “The current Sheriff’s communications center for the valley, coined ‘Eagle Center,’ has been in the City of Rialto ‘temporarily’ for over 30 years.”
The facility will be capable of self-support over an extended duration of time and act as a stand-alone facility in the event of a disaster. When completed, this facility will accommodate up to 454 emergency planners and responders and will be self-sufficient and resilient.
Like the county-built Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, this facility will be built on a base-isolation system with 33 isolators supporting the building, making it resistant to earthquakes. It will include a back-up water system, redundant generation systems, and technological redundancies to facilitate continual operations for up to three days if it were to be cut off from outside services.
“The county seeks out and takes advantage of the latest technologies to provide public service,” said Fourth District Supervisor Curt Hagman. “The Valley Communications Center is a great example of cutting-edge technology being brought to bear to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of government services.”
The Valley Communications Center will be an imposing structure that leaves the smallest possible footprint.
It will be LEED Gold-certified, meaning it has been constructed to the highest environmental standards. The most-visible green feature will be a 700-kVA photovoltaic system on the parking lot canopies.
“We’ve made sure the facility provides the greatest amount of service with the lightest possible impact on the environment,” said Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr.
The total cost of the project will be $125 million, which will be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
