MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County dedicated its new Public Safety Complex Expansion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that also honored Labor Day, as the Board of County Commissioners joined members of the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council to celebrate the workers who built the 65,540-square-foot facility.
The ceremony took place outside the new building on West Hanover Avenue in Parsippany and included Morris County Department of Law and Public Safety staff, along with more than a dozen trades workers and union leaders. The project began last year and was designed to strengthen public safety and health response capabilities in the county.
County Commissioner Director Stephen Shaw said Labor Day continues to remind residents that the strength of communities rests on the skill and craftsmanship of workers, adding that the message carries new weight as artificial intelligence reshapes industries nationwide.
Shaw said skilled trades remain essential to construction, noting that artificial intelligence cannot pour concrete, set steel, run electrical systems, or install heating and cooling equipment.
Shaw presented a framed Resolution of Honor to David Critchley, president of the Morris, Sussex and Vicinity Building and Construction Trades Council and secretary-treasurer of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. The resolution recognized trades workers for their contributions to the Public Safety Complex Expansion and other Morris County projects, including facilities at the County College of Morris and the ongoing county criminal court expansion.
Representatives from the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 102, and the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada Local 24 also attended.
Critchley accepted the resolution on behalf of the building trades and thanked county officials for highlighting the trades and giving younger workers a chance to learn about training and career paths.
Critchley said that for every five workers retiring from the trades, only two are entering to replace them, and he encouraged young people to consider the field, citing well-paying jobs and skills gained through apprenticeship programs.
The expansion gives the Morris County Division of Public Health a new location directly next to the county’s emergency operations functions, and includes storage for personal protective equipment and garage space for emergency response vehicles and equipment.
The project developed out of lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Board of County Commissioners formed a Strategic Planning Advisory Committee to evaluate the county’s emergency preparedness and response. The committee met 64 times to examine the county’s capabilities and identify needed improvements.
While the county’s Office of Emergency Management response was cited as a model for the state, the committee concluded that the Division of Public Health needed to be located closer to the emergency operations team.
The expansion also creates additional space for the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division in Public Health’s former location on West Hanover Avenue. Shaw said the project addresses two needs at once, moving Public Health into the new facility while freeing up space better suited for the Sheriff’s Patrol Division.
The project was designed by The Musial Group Architects, with Dobco Group serving as general contractor and Legacy Construction Management Inc. as construction manager. It was recognized earlier this year by the New Jersey Alliance for Action as one of the state’s leading capital construction projects for excellence in planning, design, and construction.
The Public Safety Complex Expansion is one of several major projects planned or underway in Morris County. Renderings displayed at the ceremony showed upcoming projects, including a new criminal courthouse and a replacement K-9 facility. The three projects have been supported by $99.7 million in total funding approved by the County Commissioners, with 82.2 percent from the county and 17.8 percent from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Morris County’s partnership with the building trades also extends to educational facilities on the County College of Morris campus. Projects include the Center for Health Professions, scheduled to open next year; the Center for Culinary Science and Entrepreneurship, which opened earlier this year; and the Morris County Vocational School District’s career training center, which opened on the college campus to hundreds of high school students last year.
Following the ribbon cutting, guests toured the new facility and viewed renderings of upcoming county projects.
