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Collier County’s emergency management office has received a $1.6 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to bolster the new Emergency Operations Center planned in East Naples.

“County staff has worked very hard to find alternative methods to pay for this state-of-the-art Emergency Service Center, and this is one effort that has paid off,” Emergency Services Director Dan Summers said in a statement. “This grant is one of two grants, totaling $3.16 million, that we were able to acquire to help defer the overall project cost and save taxpayers’ money.”

The $1,639,223 FEMA grant will be used for “code-plus” improvements, which go beyond standard building codes.

Other non-FEMA sources have paid for the purchase of the land as well as for the actual construction.

Once completed in late 2008, the new center will be resistant to a category 5 hurricane, able to withstand winds greater than 155 mph and storm surge of more than 22 feet, county officials said.

Additionally, it will have backup systems to ensure uninterrupted, continuous communication and power for many days as necessary.