Johnson County broke ground on a new 33,000-square-foot, single story medical examiner facility in December.
Johnson County voters approved a ¼-cent sales tax in November 2016 to build a $21 million facility.
The facility will be located on the Johnson County Government campus at 119th and Ridgeview in Olathe. The contractor is McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. The design firms are PGAV Architects and SmithGroupJJR.
The project team visited peer facilities in New Mexico, Maryland, Kansas and Missouri to gather information on best practices, design efficiencies and ideas for specialty fixtures and equipment.
The goals of the new medical examiner facility are:
- Increase autopsy rates to meet appropriate national benchmarks
- Build a state of the art, high-functioning facility, known for excellence and leadership
- Facilitate National Association of Medical Examiners (N.A.M.E.) accreditation by meeting scientific requirements
- Provide reliable data for public health to identify trends and emerging diseases
The construction budget is $16.5 million. The project should be completed by the end of 2019, with move in taking place 1Q 2020 and the opening of the building 2Q 2020.
