ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Authorities hope to improve security operations at a busy transit center in east St. Louis with the grand opening of a new multi-million dollar public safety building Thursday morning.
A ribbon cutting is planned for the new Emerson Park Transit Center in East St. Louis on Thursday morning at 11 a.m., with many political leaders and others in attendance.
The new Emerson Park Transit Center is a $15 million state-of-the-art building that was completed in April.
The two-story, 16 thousand-square-foot facility currently houses the St. Clair County CENCOM West 911 Emergency Dispatch Center.
This building will become the second location for the Metrolink operations control center. There is also office space inside for the St. Clair County Metrolink sheriff’s deputies.
Authorities believe the facility and the operations inside of it will help bolster communications and security collaborations among metro transit, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, metro transit public safety, the Bureau of Transit Police, and other public safety partners.
The hope is that those efforts will help the St. Clair County transit district better serve riders in St. Clair County and on the entire Metrolink system.
The $15 million project received additional funding from the St. Clair County Transit District and bi-state development in addition to a nearly $10 million rebuild Illinois grant that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker awarded in January 2022.
The new building is owned and operated by the St. Clare County Transit District.
