Last month, Washoe County Commissioners approved $12 million in funding for a new medical examiner's office.
“We regularly have as many as five cases in a day,” said Dr. Ellen Clark, Chief Medical Examiner for Washoe County.
The current building, located at the intersection of Second and Kirman Streets was built in 1959.
"We last retrofitted the building in 1991,” said Clark.
With age of the building comes structural problems including leaking ceilings, narrow hallways, poor air circulation, and more.
"The existing building has a staircase, elevators, and isn't laid out in the best way," said Dwayne Smith, Division Director of Engineering and Capital Projects.
The new facility will be one single story located in the vacant lot across the street from the Washoe County complex. The new building will be 19,000 square feet. The existing structure is just under 13,000 square feet.
“It's an efficient additional 7,000 square feet," said Smith.
The Washoe County Medical Examiner's office not only serves Washoe County, but 19 other counties and agencies throughout Nevada and eastern California.
"We've outgrown the building,” said Clark. “We're ready for modernization, and we're looking forward to a new building."
The county is in the final stages of the design process. Even though they can't say when construction will begin, they do say it will happen very soon.
