Fairfax County Police and Fire Departments Get A New Home

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s largest county is cutting the ribbon on a new headquarters building for its police and fire departments.

Fairfax County is showing off its new public safety headquarters Thursday. The nine-story, 274,000-square-foot building is located next to the County Government Center in Fairfax.

Both agencies have been looking forward to exiting the decrepit Massey building, next to the courthouse, which was built in the 1960s. The building suffers from recurring power outages, and county officials say the heating and cooling system is antiquated to the point that finding replacement parts is difficult.

The county estimated that refurbishing the old building would have cost $87 million and instead opted to build an entirely new facility for $142 million.