Maureen Will made the final emergency communications center transmission out of 3 Main Street last week, formally closing the dispatch center’s original location.

The director of Newtown Emergency Communications Center (NECC, or “dispatch”), Will was waiting for all systems to be up and running on Tuesday, March 16, for each piece of equipment at 191 South Main Street to be checked, before going on the air with that final message from Town Hall South.

NECC is an independent town agency. It serves as the town’s 911 call center, dispatching local police, fire, ambulance, and dive team calls.

At 2:52 pm, it was time. Will queued up her mic and announced the following:

“Effective with the closing of this message, all operations for the Newtown ECC will be coming from our new home at 191 South Main Street. The journey from the switchboard at 45 Main to the combining of services at 3 Main Street has come to an end with a state-of-the-art facility. We, the staff at NECC, thank you for your patience and support on this special day.

“Newtown ECC clear of 3 Main Street. 191 South Main Street facility, you have the comm from here,” she said, formally closing communications at the old facility. Will’s voice broke, just a little, during the announcement.

“Wow,” she said, laughing a little. “I didn’t think that was going to be that emotional.”

Dispatchers Ryan Doyle and Kevin Marchand were with Will on Tuesday, working their final shift at 3 Main Street. They were there when Will made the final call, and then drove to their new work home after Will secured the building behind them.

The hour before that last call was one of the longest of recent weeks. The team had hoped to do the transfer at 2 pm, but a few last-minute challenges delayed that plan.

“I’m so ready to be done with this move,” Will said while waiting to do the changeover. “It’s been a long process. I’m just ready to be done with it.”

Will spent much of the previous weekend unpacking boxes at the new NECC location. On Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14, boxes were piled within the communications center, filled with books, small equipment, and accessories.

By the time her team walked into their new home on Tuesday, however, everything was in place for them.

CarrieAnn Greiser and Sherita McPierson were on for the evening shift of March 16. They arrived early, and communicated with Will, Doyle, and Marchand from 191 South Main during final equipment checks leading up to the changeover.

They were also getting acclimated, Will said, to the new system.

A team from Norcom, the telecommunications provider tasked with moving NECC from its former to current home, was still working at the new location Tuesday afternoon, making final adjustments to the equipment as Greiser and McPierson eased into their first full shift in the new location.

The New Location

The new NECC location is larger and brighter than its predecessor.

NECC’s space has tripled in size with its move. It previously was contained in 20 by 20 square feet.

“My office alone,” Will said earlier this week, “has doubled in size.”

A credenza, bookcase, and filing cabinet were all part of the move from 3 Main to 191 South Main.

“We have more storage now than we ever had before, so items are not stored in boxes or in my office,” she said.

The center’s consoles — the major equipment of any dispatch center — have all been updated. Will said that was paid for through state funding.

In addition to their new telecommunications equipment, Newtown’s dispatchers now have their own break room, bathroom, and quiet room.

“Staff has lockers to put their personal belongings in, an area where they can actually eat a meal — if time and call volume permits — away from the phones and computers,” Will said.

The quiet room, she said, is something every public safety answering point (PSAP) wants, “a place where a dispatcher can decompress after a traumatic event or call, where crisis counselors can talk to them in private.”

In the event of snow or weather events, Will noted, the two chairs in the quiet room can even be converted into a sleep chair.

Will is very proud of her staff, and thrilled at the potential opportunities for growth.

“Right now I have nine full-time staff and one per diem, plus me,” she said. “As we grow, I still look for opportunities to draw in other smaller agencies to dispatch for regionalization. Then we would grow to accommodate the other agencies.

“This staff is highly trained and I hold them to a very high standard, and they know that,” she added. “They are true professionals. I am proud of what they do for the town that I was born and raised in.”

Will is the just the town’s second NECC director. She took over the lead position in July 2008, following the departure of Joseph A. DelBuono, who had been the first.

NECC had been operating out of Town Hall South since late 2001, when fire and ambulance dispatching combined with police dispatching.

Before that, police dispatching was done from one location within Edmond Town Hall. Fire and ambulance was done through the switchboard at another location within the former town hall building.

The upper level of Town Hall South served as the Newtown Police Department headquarters for about 40 years. The building had been converted from a farm equipment dealership. Police calls were dispatched from 3 Main when the department moved into that renovated building during the 1980s. NECC was created when fire and EMS calls were added to the dispatch center in 2001.

The lower level offices of Town Hall South, which formerly housed Newtown Social Services and Newtown Parks & Recreation, have been vacant since July 2019, when both agencies relocated to 8 Simpson Street, sharing space with Newtown Community Center.

The building at 191 South Main Street formerly housed offices for the Taunton Press. The Town of Newtown bought the 7.35-acre property from 191 Main Street South LLC in 2018, and the abutting 4.39-acre parcel at 61 Pecks Lane from Peck & Main LLC, for a combined 11.74-acre site.

The $15.1 million project expanded the existing building by 3,654 feet, increasing from 21,687 to 25,341 square feet. The new building is more than three times the size of Town Hall South.

The police department headquarters formally opened with a ribbon cutting on November 7, 2020.

Once Will and her dispatchers left Town Hall South on Tuesday, the building was locked. Town employees will further secure it, she said.

“There will also be personnel going in and out to remove additional equipment,” she said. A few town agencies have equipment and other items still being stored in the building.