State Invests $10M in Disaster-Ready CORE3 Facility

Overview:

CORE3, an emergency response training facility in Redmond, just received $10M in state funding.

The state has approved nearly $10 million in funding for a major emergency response and training facility near the Redmond airport. “The CORE3 facilities are designated for first responder training and for providing a multi-agency emergency operations center in support of large-scale emergencies,” said Deschutes County Commissioner Chair Tony DeBone in a news release. “We greatly appreciate legislators including this essential facility in the Capital Construction funding, which will allow us to move the project forward.”

Fire training will be a large part of the new CORE3 facility. *Courtesy: Department of Public Safety Standards and Training*

The idea for CORE3 began “more than a decade ago but began gaining speed in 2018,” according to the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.

The CORE3 project is designed to coordinate disaster relief across Oregon, with State Sen. Anthony Broadman, Rep. Emerson Levy and Rep. Jason Kropf securing the funding. The facility “will have a real and lasting impact,” said Kropf in a recent press release.

Multi-agency disaster response hub

“The CORE3 is going to be very complimentary in terms of training for our police in all the agencies in Central Oregon, as well as many in Eastern Oregon. There’s going to be a significant cost savings to having this facility here whereby people from Central and Eastern Oregon don’t have to travel all the way over to the Valley for these kinds of trainings,” said City of Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch.

The CORE3 facility will be a flexible multi-use space that will play a key role in rescue and recovery operations during major statewide disasters like wildfires, flooding and the expected Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. It will have a dedicated, multi-agency coordination center for emergency operations, a training facility for current and future needs of local, state and federal public safety and emergency management personnel.

Funding for the project includes $1 million in federal money, nearly $20 million from the Oregon Legislature, $550,000 from the Oregon State Fire Marshal and a 300-acre land donation from the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners valued at $13 million. The legislature’s $10 million allocation this year contributes to the project’s estimated $50 million total cost.

CORE3 construction

The funds will cover design and engineering expenses for Phase 1, which includes an administration building, an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course, emergency coordination center with flexible classrooms, skills pad, a fire training tower and security fencing.

Plans for CORE3 include a tactical village, a skills pad and a fire training tower. *Courtesy: CORE3*

Later development will add a high bay indoor drill and training space, covered gun range, urban search and rescue prop, two-story Class A burn building and a shoot house with reconfigurable maze for simulations. The training “props” are structures that mimic real-life disaster situations, giving teams hands-on practice finding people, getting them out of dangerous spots and providing medical help to victims stuck in collapsed buildings or other risky situations.

Additional facilities will include virtual de-escalation training, train car derailment and rescue prop, off-road driving course, wildland fire training area, vehicle extrication prop and a fire drafting pit for fire truck pump certification. The expansion will also have trench rescue props, an aircraft rescue and firefighting prop, emergency medical technician lab, a roof training prop for fire, SWAT rappelling and smoke training. With phase 1 funding now secured, officials are moving forward with construction planning. “We anticipate beginning building in 2027,” said Fitch.

This article appears in the Source August 28, 2025.