A $785,400 bid has been awarded to a contractor to build a standalone Emergency Operations Center for the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

The county’s current EOC is located on the second floor of the county government complex in downtown Fayetteville, a building originally built to be a shopping center, noted Fayette County Commission Chairman Steve Brown.

The worry has been that during inclement weather, if the county building were to be destroyed or heavily damaged, the EOC would not be able to continue county government operations and coordinate the necessary response to such a disaster, Brown explained.

The new EOC will be built on the site of the 911 Communications Center at 100 Volunteer Way near the intersection of McDonough and County Line roads.

The bid was awarded to Atlantic South Construction, which was the lowest of 11 bids received on the project. The highest bid was submitted by Southcore Construction, Inc. for $1,004,000, though three other low bidders were within $25,000 of the low bid from Atlantic South.