County officials, Department of Law and Public Safety staff, and representatives of the building trades gathered outside the West Hanover Avenue facility for a ribbon cutting on Sept. 9. The ceremony also recognized the workers whose trades and craftsmanship brought the project to completion following Labor Day.
The new facility is intended to strengthen the county’s public-health and emergency-response capacity. It includes dedicated storage for personal protective equipment and garage space for emergency-response vehicles and equipment. County leaders said the project grew from the planning work that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, when a county advisory committee evaluated its preparedness for future emergencies.
One conclusion from that review was the need to place Public Health closer to the emergency-operations team with which it works. Moving the division into the expansion also creates room in its former West Hanover Avenue location for the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division.
The project was designed by The Musial Group Architects. Dobco Group served as general contractor, and Legacy Construction Management Inc. was construction manager. The county said the work was recognized earlier this year by the New Jersey Alliance for Action for planning, design and construction.
At the opening, Commissioner Director Stephen Shaw presented a Resolution of Honor to David Critchley of the Morris, Sussex and Vicinity Building and Construction Trades Council, recognizing the skilled trades workers who contributed to the project.
