BRADENTON, Fla. — The process of responding to power outages and dangerous situations during a major storm will soon be a little different in Manatee County.

The City of Bradenton debuted its new Public Safety Operations Center on Friday morning located at 2905 59th St W. The building most recently housed the American Red Cross.

What You Need To Know

  •  New center brings emergency response teams closer to downtown, coastal areas 

  •  Includes 70 bunks, showers, and large kitchen 

  •  City and county will work together in new state-of-the-art command center 

  • Renovations cost roughly $4 million 

City Administrator Rob Perry says they went forward with creating their own operations center so when a major storm hits, emergency services are closer to the heart of the city and Anna Maria Island.

State statute dictates that all Florida counties can only have one emergency management agency, so the city’s new public safety center will serve as a satellite for the main Manatee County Emergency Operations Center, which is located further east.

Perry says proximity and access are so important for storm response and recovery which is why they chose the 59th St W location.

“The purpose of this facility is to support ‘first in team’ operations - which are called FIT -  and what they do is clean and cut pathways to the areas that could be devastated," Perry said.

Both city and county staff will work together in the event of an emergency or major storm in the building’s state-of-the-art command center.

There is a large kitchen, equipped to feed hundreds of people, as well as 70 bunks split into multiple rooms. There are also shower rooms and individual office spaces for outside agencies.

The idea is during a hurricane when staff and first responders can’t go home and have to work for hours on end, they have a place to eat and rest.

Bradenton mayor Gene Brown said major hurricanes over the last 4 years showed the city how important it was to have emergency response teams closer to the coast.

“We’ve seen a lot of things happening lately where there’s flooding, where certain people can’t get places,” he explained. “We saw that with Florida Power and Light crews a couple storms ago when they were on the other side of the Myakka River and couldn’t get into town, so this gives another staging area.”

The new facility is formally open and was celebrated at a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday.