• Skagit County to Study Future Regional Public Safety Campus

Over the past decade, Skagit County has faced an increasing number of emergency situations and access to a regional training facility for emergency service providers has decreased. Over the past five years, Skagit County has responded to a major gasoline pipeline release, a 100-year flood, and several wildfires. Pursuit intervention techniques for local law enforcement are among critical capabilities currently underutilized because of the lack of proper training facilities. Moreover, preparedness for active threat situations and scenes of violence has become an urgent priority that cannot be adequately addressed without specialized training environments. Local emergency situations are becoming more diversified and require dedicated, wide-reaching collaboration between our emergency response agencies including law enforcement, emergency management officials, fire agencies, and emergency medical services.

A regional public safety task force was convened by Skagit County to evaluate the existing public safety training gaps and potential next steps. The task force includes public safety representatives from multiple jurisdictions across the county, and they recommended a study be conducted for a future regional training facility. The RPSC would create a unified regional training campus that elevates preparedness and response capability for our community. The facility would equip our emergency personnel with the skills and technologies necessary to effectively manage and mitigate complex safety challenges. The RPSC will address the need for a broad range of specialized training and operational facilities, catered to the diverse disciplines within public safety and emergency services. These include a firearms range, emergency vehicle operations course, multi-story live fire facility, hazmat and technical rescue training areas, classroom facility, an emergency operations center, and a 911 dispatch facility that meets modern standards.

The Skagit County Department of Emergency Management released a request for a public safety facility consultant on March 28, 2025. The Department has chosen MAKERS architecture and urban design to conduct the comprehensive facility needs assessment and feasibility study for an RPSC. The assessment and feasibility study will include interviews, discovery of best practices, space needs assessment, property search and real-estate analysis, a rough-order-of-magnitude project cost estimate for a new or renovated facility based on space needs assessment and real estate opportunities analysis findings, and a funding and feasibility analysis, all culminating in a final report and briefing to city, town, and county elected officials. We anticipate this report to be completed within the next twelve months.