November 6, 2009
By DANNY HENLEY
Hannnibal Courier-Post

Marion County 911 won’t officially move into its new $2.1 million home until later this month, but it was able to show the state-of-the-art facility off Thursday afternoon.

Approximately 50 people were in attendance for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new communications center, which is located off of U.S. 61 in northern Hannibal. Among those on hand was Paul Fennewald, Homeland Security coordinator for the state of Missouri.

“I think this new facility is outstanding,” he said. “This is a state-of-the-art, cutting edge 911 facility for Missouri. I think Marion County can be proud of it and Missouri can be proud of it. It’s just outstanding.”

Al Durand, 911 Board chairman, and Mike Hall, director of Marion County 911, were both challenged to put their feelings into words.

“It’s almost hard to talk about how I feel,” said Durand. “I’m just so proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve done for the citizens of Marion County. I think we have built a facility here that will last us for years to come. It’s going to do what we want it to do. It’s going to keep our employees safe because they’re the most important part of what we’ve got here. I think it’s a real asset for Marion County.”

“It’s hard to believe that we’re finally getting to that point where the facility is almost ready to go live,” said Hall. “It’s the end result of an awful lot of work by an awful lot of people for a number of years. To see it all come together it’s surreal. It’s hard to describe with words.”

Durand says the new facility represents the dream of Lee Keck, former publisher of the Palmyra Spectator, who was called upon to cut the ribbon during Thursday’s ceremony.

“It goes back about 30 years when he had the vision to start to work on a project like this,” he said. “We’ve had quite a few board members that have worked really hard over the years to see that we got where we are today.”

Fennewald says Marion County 911 is capable of providing far more services than are seen in many Missouri counties.

“If somebody is reaching out whenever they are in serious trouble, the ability of the first responder to find them and get the appropriate resources to them … Many places don’t have a facility like this that will allow that,” he said.