Ocala’s new First Responder Campus officially will be dedicated during a Jan. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The campus, located at 340 NE 8th Ave., houses Ocala Fire Rescue Station No. 1 and the Ocala Police Department’s East District Office. The fire station relocated from 235 NE Watula Ave., while the new police department building replaces one formerly located at 38 SE 15th Terr.
The joint ribbon-cutting will begin at 9 a.m. and is free and open to the public. Tours of both facilities also will be conducted that morning.
The First Responder project was funded with a portion of the one-percent sales tax that was approved by Marion County voters in 2016. The tax, which ends in 2020, was passed to fund public safety and transportation infrastructure.
Another new facility paid for by the sales tax money, Ocala Fire Rescue Station No. 7, was constructed at 885 SE 31st Street. That building, along with the First Responder Campus, carried a price tag of just under $5.2 million.
Ocala’s portion of the sales tax money also is funding the purchase of 43 new police vehicles at a cost of about $1.3 million. That includes 38 2018 Ford Interceptor sedans/SUVs and five 2019 models.
More than $2.28 million also is being spent to help Ocala police officers better communicate with one another and first responders from other agencies. All told, about 1,200 pieces of radio and communication equipment are being purchased, which includes 477 radios and various accessories to go along with them.