Wiregrass
Public Safety
Center
A bold public and private partnership building a culture of community engagement and training excellence.
In 2017, the Wiregrass Foundation, a foundation rooted in improving the health, education and quality of life in Southern Alabama, made its largest project investment to date with a $25 million contribution towards the construction of the Wiregrass Public Safety Center. The Foundation formed a strategic alliance with the City of Dothan, Houston County and other private businesses to fulfill a comprehensive mission to be the model of excellence in public safety preparation and response by integrating training, development, communication, collaboration, and community engagement.
In the spirit of the public-private partnership, the 25-acre site was designed and configured not only to serve the integrated training needs of police, fire and emergency medical services but also as a community resource to foster an environment and culture of positive engagement between public safety providers and the community. The facility features a "Teach Me House" a residential-style building for school-age children to learn about fire safety, and intruder and stranger danger. Gun safety, concealed permit and self-defense classes are provided to the community through the facility.
A 25,000 SF classroom and administration building anchors the training site with a five-story computer-controlled burn drill tower, Class A burn building, 25-lane outdoor gun range, truck drafting area, tactical/simulations house, live-fire shoot house, 3.7-acre driving skills pad, tactical village, and a K-9 training and kennel facility. The training site also includes props for urban search and rescue, confined space, collapsed trench, vehicle extrication and hazardous materials containment training, rail car and additional tactical village buildings.