The city of Suffolk will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the King’s Fork Public Safety Center at 3 p.m. today. The Center will be located next to King’s Fork Middle School, which is located at 350 Kings Fork Road.

The 25,000 square-foot facility will house a fire station, the offices for Suffolk Fire Department administration and the Suffolk Emergency Operations Center.

“We are very excited about this project,” said Fire Chief Mark Outlaw. “The King’s Fork Public Safety Center will provide enhanced services to the ever-increasing response areas of Godwin Boulevard, Pruden Boulevard and Route 58, by greatly reducing response times in those areas.”

An ambulance, a fire engine and a ladder truck will operate out of the center, Outlaw said, and “firefighters will have the necessary tools needed to provide the protection to our community that has always been the number one priority of Suffolk Fire.”

The new Suffolk Emergency Operations Center will be a significant part of the project.

“Enhanced management of natural and large-scale disasters will be provided in a safe and secure facility,” Outlaw said.

The new emergency operations center will replace the one that is operated out of Fire Station 3 at White Marsh Road.

City officials expect the King’s Fork Public Safety Center project to be completed by January 2010. It is being built on land donated to the city by Suffolk Public Schools.