By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — Newton County officials will seek architects to help relocate the county’s 911 center to the former National Guard Armory building.

The county has already made informal inquiries and will likely issue a request for qualifications for an architect within the next week, said Presiding Commissioner Jerry Carter. The dispatch center is currently housed inside the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho, and county officials hope to have the operation moved to the armory building at 202 W. Brook St. by sometime next year, he said.

The architect designs will spell out how the armory is to be retrofitted to accommodate 911 services. The county also might have to update some of the equipment.

The county will seek architects with experience in 911 centers, Carter said.

“This will narrow the field some because it is a specialized design,” he said.

The 911 center provides dispatching services for an assortment of operations inside Newton County, including the sheriff’s department; the ambulance service; the Neosho police and fire departments; the Neosho Public Works Department; and police departments in Seneca and Granby.

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland, who also serves as the chairman of the 911 center’s board of directors, said a new location is needed to provide additional space for both dispatchers and communications equipment. Both are cramped in the current location, he said. A larger roof also is needed to spread the radio antennas over a wider space to reduce feedback.

The proposed relocation, Copeland said, would be cheaper than constructing a new building.

Carter said that cost estimates for the move are still to be determined. The 911 center is funded by a combination of a telephone surcharge that county residents pay and contributions from the participating agencies.

More than a year ago the county swapped downtown properties with the city of Neosho. The former received the armory building, while the latter got the former county health department building at 201 N. College St.

Last year the county moved its emergency management office into the armory building. Carter said the county plans to use the space not occupied by that office and the 911 center to house both an archive center and a center for election equipment and training.