New WFD Emergency Center $530K Clears House

WARWICK, RI — A second round of federal community project funding, including a new $530K WFD Emergency Center, was approved in the U.S. House Friday, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) reports.

The money is included in six government funding bills the U.S. House approved March 22. The first part of the funding bill was approved in early March and is expected to be quickly OK’d by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The $530,437 in federal funding will be used to relocate the Warwick Fire Department’s 70-year-old Emergency Operations Center to the WFD’s newest station in Potowomut, Station 10, at 225 Potowomut Road. Potowomut station was built for $2.8 million in 2015 by Ahlborg Construction Corp. on the site of the former Potowomut School.

The EOC, furnished with state-of-the-art equipment, will improve emergency response times throughout Warwick and surrounding communities.

“When Rhode Islanders are in danger, they deserve swift assistance, and this federal funding for the Warwick Fire Department will improve emergency response times to keep Warwick residents safe,” said Magaziner. “I am committed to supporting first responders in Congress and ensuring they are equipped with the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.”

The City of Warwick’s EOC is currently located in a facility that suffers from structural, logistical, and security issues that have been extremely costly to address over time, Magaziner’s office noted in a statement about the funding. The current site also lacks the security infrastructure to prevent disruptions from an act of terrorism or catastrophic weather event. This funding request will be used to relocate the EOC to a modern, state-of-the-art facility and purchase equipment – including Emergency Reporting Signal Receiving Equipment, radio communication consoles, and computer server, among others – to keep Warwick residents safe.

“The Warwick Fire Department is grateful for Representative Magaziner’s efforts to help secure federal funding to improve delivery of life-saving services for our communities,” said Warwick Fire Department Chief Peter McMichael.“This funding will help equip local first responders with the resources they need to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.”

The full list of the 15 grants secured by Magaziner can be found below.

1. $2,080,000 to manage, reduce, and recapture stormwater in the Town of Johnston. 
2. $1,576,031 to inspect, test, and clean sewer interceptors located within the Town of West Warwick to correct deficiencies within the collection system to prevent catastrophic failure and prevent sewage overflows entering the Pawtuxet River.
3. $1,000,000 to construct an Indoor Recreation Facility in North Kingstown that will dually serve as an Emergency Shelter for the Town and provide physical and mental-well being programming to all ages.
4. $1,000,000 to construct a safe, ADA accessible, and visible pedestrian connection to the Woonasquatucket River Greenway.
5. $963,000 for the Town of East Greenwich for a waterfront development project to improve shoreline accessibility.
6. $803,100 to rehabilitate Family Service of RI’s Mount Pleasant Academy, one of the state’s premiere day treatment facilities for children with emotional, behavioral, and/or psychiatric needs.
7. $795,000 for the University of Rhode Island’s Secure Compute/Data Enhancement project to increase their capabilities to perform cutting edge, innovative research for their partnership with the National Institute of Undersea Vehicle Technology and the U.S. Navy.
8. $707,000 for the Coventry Police Department for general equipment and technology upgrades for specialty vehicles, communications improvements and technology upgrades for server capacity.
9. $700,000 for the Ocean Community YMCA’s Westerly-Pawcatuck Branch renovation to improve existing program areas to better serve some of the most vulnerable community members, including seniors, at-risk youth, and children on the neurodivergent spectrum.
10. $700,000 to rehabilitate the Peace Dale Library into a fully accessible community space to support academic education, workforce development, remote work and study, and personal health monitoring activities.
11. $700,000 to provide critical and functional repairs and rehabilitation to spaces at the Providence Public Library.
12. $530,437 for the Relocation of Warwick Fire Department Fire and Medical Services Emergency Operations Center 
13. $500,000 to construct an ADA accessible handicap viewing plaza in Burrillville with adjacent handicap parking spaces, handicap drop off zone and handicap accessible viewing platform overlooking a field for public events.
14. $485,000 for the Johnston Police Department for emergency services equipment to increase their response time and community safety.
15. $344,000 for the Cranston Police Department to upgrade their K9 vehicle fleet.