Commission narrows search for dispatch home

   The Communications Commission has narrowed its focus to two possible sites for the new dispatch center. One is the former county jail, adjacent to the dispatch center, and the other is the second floor of the former library. At its meeting Monday night, the commission pored over site plans for the two facilities.

    Architect John Mahon prepared three site plans for each location, and handed a copy of the plans to all the commissioners. Last fall, the commissioners gave Mahon a list of rooms that they want in their new dispatch center, such as a radio equipment room, a break room, restrooms, and of course a room for the 911 call stations. Using the guidelines given him, Mahon designed multiple layouts to show the commissioners how the buildings could look while still meeting their requirements.

    Mahon remarked, ?It?s just a process of figuring out what works. You manipulate it until it fits. It?s like putting together a puzzle.?

    Does Mahon have his own ideas of what a dispatch center should look like? Perhaps, but he said it?s not his job to inject his own personal tastes in the drawing. 

    ?My ideas are about answering questions such as ?How can you put all those spaces together efficiently??? said Mahon. ?It?s got to meet their functional requirements.?

    In Mahon?s first site plan for the former jail, the three call stations all face toward the center of the room. Commissioner Bob Shepherd, who worked as a dispatcher for five years, didn?t like that site plan because there was so little room for each dispatcher. He said the dispatchers could become claustrophobic (a fear of having no space) in that environment. Shepherd recalled feelings of claustrophobia when he worked at the communications center.

    ?It would feel as if it was closing in on you,? said Shepherd. ?We went to a second, backup dispatcher, and then it really closed in on you. In these plans, you have three dispatchers altogether, plus the supervisor, potentially. To me, we should concentrate on what?s best for the dispatchers, and I don?t think that?s the best layout for them.?

For the full story, see the Feb. 22 edition of The Washington Evening Journal