Pritzker, Labor leaders cut the ribbon on new Emerson Park Public Safety Center

By ELIZABETH DONALD
Illinois Correspondent

East St. Louis, IL – Gov. JB Pritzker, Labor leaders and public officials stood together to cut the ribbon on the new Emerson Park Public Safety Building –  another union-built project funded by Rebuild Illinois.

The $15 million center is located at the Emerson Park Metrolink station, intended to be a central hub for communications and security among Metro Transit, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, Metro Transit Public Safety, the Bureau of Transit Police and other public safety partners.

Pritzker said the center makes good on a commitment to public safety and reliability in mass transit. “This is the sort of strategic investment that elevates Illinois as a leader,” he said, adding the “men and women of Organized Labor” made the project happen.

“Up and down this state, union crews are hard at work keeping Illinois moving,” he said.

Labor partners in the project included the Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, Laborers Local 100, Operating Engineers Local 520, Carpenters of Mid-America, Ironworkers Local 392, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 360, Painters District Council 58, Cement Masons Local 90, IBEW Local 309, Insulators Local 1, Bricklayers Local 8, Roofers Local 2 and Sheet Metal Workers Local 268.

Construction began in January 2023 and was completed earlier this year.

Pritzker was joined at the podium by state Reps. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) and state Sen. Christopher Belt (D-East St. Louis), as well as former state Rep. LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis), among others.

REBUILD ILLINOIS
The project received nearly $10 million from Rebuild Illinois, the massive infrastructure construction program Pritzker launched early in his first term. “When you’re driving by a transit construction project and have to slow down, I just want to say, ‘Sorry, not sorry,’” Pritzker said. “This is for the next couple of decades to upgrade our infrastructure.”

Pritzker said Rebuild Illinois isn’t just about addressing decades of neglect and a crumbling transit system, but an opportunity to restart Illinois’ economic engine, both through construction jobs and reconnecting people with jobs through infrastructure like roads, bridges and mass transit.

“We made it clear this wasn’t just a plan to rectify the shortcomings of the past, it was a chance to build an incredible future,” Pritzker said.

CRITICAL PUBLIC SAFETY INVESTMENT
“This project is a critical public safety investment for East St. Louis, St. Clair County and the entire St. Louis metropolitan region,” said Herb Simmons, director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency.

The two-story, 16,000-square-foot building houses the St. Clair County CENCOM West 911 Emergency Dispatch Center, office space for the St. Clair County Metrolink Sheriff’s Deputies, and a second location for Metrolink Operations Control Center with an expansive dispatch floor, conference and office space, training area, holding cells and more. It also offers public restrooms and a water fountain for the public and Metrolink riders.

Those riders are primarily workers, according to the transit officials present. In a survey of 500 Metrolink riders, the majority earned less than $70,000 a year and 81 percent were on their way to work, they said.

Belt said voting for Rebuild Illinois was one of his first votes as a freshman legislator, and he was proud to support it and the public safety project. Hoffman said he has worked on four major capital improvement bills through several governors, and was proud of the vision behind Rebuild Illinois passed in Pritzker’s first year of office.

In addition to nearly $10 million from Rebuild Illinois, the project also received funding from the St. Clair County Transit District and Bi-State Development. The project team included FGM Architects, Poettker Construction, BriC Partnership, Kreher Engineering, Gonzalez Companies, Larson Engineering and RTM Engineering, among others.