Baton Rouge, LA — August 23, 2022 — Today, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, the Parish Emergency Management Advisory Committee, Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, and East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services celebrate the beginning of construction of the Parish Safe Room and Training Center. 

The $6.6 million East Baton Rouge Parish Safe Room and Training Center, funded primarily by FEMA with 25 percent matching funds provided by EMS, will serve as a dual-purpose facility; a strategic staging area for first responders during natural disasters, and a training facility throughout the year.

“The Safe Room Training Center is another step in our administration's efforts to support our parish first responders while also focusing on the overall safety of our residents. The facility’s purpose is to ensure that our Public Safety personnel are receiving 21st-century training and are properly sheltered in a centralized location during weather events. I’m confident the Training Center will also boost morale, retention, and recruitment of our public safety personnel, rooted in respect and regard for the communities they serve,” says Mayor Sharon Weston Broome.

Based on calculations provided by FEMA, the dual-use, one-story hurricane-safe room will be approximately 16,580 square feet and will provide near-absolute life safety protection for an estimated 704 essential services personnel.  

“This new facility is the first of three locations that will provide adequate space and amenities needed to provide for needed emergency staging and shelter our first responders throughout the parish during major weather events, as well as host large and/or multiple simultaneous training events during ‘blue sky days’. In light of the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other tropical events over the last decade, the parish determined a need to have a dedicated facility, specifically designed and constructed to accommodate the space and equipment needs of first responders and other critical essential services personnel. The benefit of the dual-use facility will provide for large-scale training and double as a staging and shelter location for our first responders maximizing both local and federal available funding sources,” says MOHSEP Director Clay Rives.

“The Safe Room Training Center provides the opportunity for all East Baton Rouge Parish public safety personnel to stage and collaborate for the best possible outcomes,” added EMS Administrator Michael Denicola.

The projected timeline for completion of the EBR Safe Room and Training Center is one year.