Two dispatchers are seen working at the new Negaunee Regional Communications Center at the Michigan State Police Negaunee Post. The new center is designed to accommodate up to 16 emergency dispatch council positions with a total of 24 employees at the center including managers. The new dispatch center officially opened on Wednesday. (Journal photo by Dreyma Beronja)

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP — The new Negaunee Regional Communication Center is now open.

Michigan State Police Negaunee Post officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the NRCC on Wednesday.

NRCC Dispatch Director Benjamin Watson said the center was a $4 million investment from the state.

“It was an investment for the entire Upper Peninsula,” Watson said. “This will serve as the whole 8th district for the Michigan State Police. We are also the main answering point for 911 for six counties in the Upper Peninsula.”

The NRCC provides full service 911 call taking and dispatch for all MSP, local law enforcement and EMS and fire services for Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw, Ontonagon and Schoolcraft counties. That includes 61 fire agencies, 34 emergency services, 24 law enforcement agencies and 7 rescue services.

Watson said the NRC is in essence a “small operation center” which is the same as the statewide center in Lansing.

“We have all the available technology that Lansing would have in the U.P.,” Watson said. “So any major disaster or major event, we would be able to run everything from here.”

The $4 million state-funded project will provide dispatchers with up-to-date technology, a wall-to-wall display screen and a huddle room that allows dispatchers to use during their shifts as a way to debrief after dealing with high-stress situations.

“This has been a lot of long hours and hard work to get to this point,” Watson said. “It’s just the culmination of a lot of hard work, so it’s exciting.”

He said the center upgrade is “good for dispatchers.”

“The employees have been working out of a small, pretty dark, damp, dingy spot in the back of the post for many years,” Watson said. “They now have a beautiful center to work from.”

The new center is 6,000 square feet, roughly five times larger than the previous 1,100-square-foot room located at Negaunee MSP Post.