Why is this project necessary?
To provide vital hands-on tactical training for students and public safety professionals.
The Need:
- Enrollment in FVTC’s Criminal Justice training programs has increased 60% between 2008 and 2011.
- Fire Protection enrollment is capped because of limited training capacity. Currently, there are approximately 400 students on the wait list.
- The burn tower is 25 years old and has exceeded its life expectancy. It is poorly located in a residential neighborhood and is stretched to capacity at 244 days of use per year.
- Emergency Vehicle Operations training shares space with Truck Driving (also experiencing strong growth) on the Appleton campus, creating serious access and scheduling challenges.
- There is only one 6-lane indoor shooting range and we frequently turn away training opportunities due to scheduling conflicts and limited capacity.
The Objectives:
- Expand tactical training facilities to serve the needs identified by regional police and fire departments for their employees, and for our existing program students.
- Replace training facilities that have exceeded their useful life, including the burn tower, indoor firing range, and trench rescue unit to ensure realistic training experiences for public safety personnel.
- Support inter-agency and inter-disciplinary training for local public safety personnel and the communities they serve.
- Contribute to the economic development of the region, attracting trainees and revenue to this "destination" training facility.
- Spur the development of public-private partnerships offering mutual benefits that ultimately lessens the burden on taxpayers.
Project Overview:
Our plan calls for a new training center adjacent to Outagamie County Regional Airport that combines classroom training with hands-on practice in a real-world setting. The Center will be used to train investigation, firefighting, technical rescue, pursuit, air disasters, and more. No other fully integrated training facility exists in the Midwest and only a handful of other facilities meet even a portion of the combined training needs that we will offer.
Economic Impact Study Results:
A comprehensive study conducted by NorthStar Economics, Inc. indicates a very positive impact on the local economy in terms of generating spending, jobs, and tax revenues. Read more about the study >>
Preliminary Conceptual Plan (as of September 2012) :
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Preliminary Conceptual Plan (as of September 2012) :
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View more preliminary images of the Public Safety Training Center >>