GREENE COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Ground was broken in Linton Monday for a new facility for the Greene County Ambulance Service.

Sitting on the northwest side of Greene County General Hospital in Linton is a small pole barn. A barn county leaders noted isn’t much of a facility.

“Well, the old facility is a shed basically,” Ed Michael, President of the Greene County Ambulance board said.

Greene County Ambulance Service currently operates out of that shed.

“They’re in an antiquated, outdated facility now,” Nathan Abrams, President of the Greene County Commissioners said. “The hospital has been very gracious over the years to give us use of that. It has limited living area in it and the shed’s pretty tight for our trucks,” he added.

Monday, county leaders broke ground on a new EMS facility. Replacing the dated building is something county leaders said has been years in the making.

“It is a big day,” Michael said. “We’ve been more than two years in the planning for this.”

Shovels turned the dirt on the piece of property east of Greene County General Hospital. The land was donated to the county by the hospital for the construction of the EMS facility.

“This will be a very good opportunity for them to have up-to-date and some modern facilities to operate out of. It’ll be a 3-bay facility and there’ll also be a living quarter. Our director’s office will be here and there’ll also be a training room, which they’ve never had a training facility before,” Abrams said.

The facility is a one-and-a-quarter million-dollar investment. Leaders said that number came in under their initial budget and was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA).

“We’re going to have facilities for as many as six people, three crews if we have to, for sleeping quarters. And we’ll be able to store a spare ambulance, which we like to have available for breakdowns. We’re looking forward to get this in operation here by the hospital,” said Michael.

County leaders said that EMS workers have been extremely patient as they have worked to make these plans a reality. They’re eager to move them into a place they can be proud of.

“It’s a huge investment. And it’s much needed,” Abrams said.

Construction on the project is expected to be completed in 160 days.