Forensics Center Groundbreaking Thursday

Gov. Tom Corbett and Pennsylvania EMS Director Joseph Schmider will join in a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for a new Joint Operations and Medico-Legal Forensics Center in South Whitehall.

The unique building, which will rise on open land at Broadway and Parkway roads, will house Cetronia Ambulance’s fleet of ambulances and other units, a regional educational center, and offices for the Lehigh County coroner and staff. The facility also will be capable of expanding Cetronia’s command center to assist in regional emergency operations.

Years in the planning, the project is a joint venture between Lehigh County and the ambulance corps. In addition to fundraising efforts, the project got a boost from a $1.75 million allocation from the state under its Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

The groundbreaking is set for 11 a.m. at Broadway and Parkway roads, near the entrance to Lehigh County’s Cedar Creek West Park. A section of the land had previously housed community gardens but they have been moved to a nearby location.

Cetronia Ambulance had held public town halls on the project.

“It’s not about bricks and mortar,” Cetronia Ambulance Chief Executive Officer Larry Wiersch has said. “It’s about emergency medical services and where we’re going in the future.”