“I’ll begin by expressing my thanks to the voters of Gwinnett County for their support of the current SPLOST program, which is providing $5.7 million for this facility,” said Board Chairman Charlotte Nash. “We look forward to having the morgue in the same building as our Medical Examiner to not only conduct autopsies and investigations but also to accommodate the relatives and friends of the deceased at a very difficult time in their lives.”
The 15,000-square-foot facility will be built on 5.6 acres the County owns at 320 Hurricane Shoals Road in Lawrenceville. It will have office space for the Medical Examiner, medical staff, investigators and administrative staff along with a family conference room and respite area.
District 4 Commissioner John Heard said, “The standards by which we construct each county building show our commitment to long-range planning and the responsible use of resources for facilities that are necessary, sustainable and useful to our taxpayers.”
McKnight Construction Company Inc. is building the facility, with an estimated completion date of spring 2017. The building was designed by Precision Planning Inc. to achieve LEED Certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. The facility will be designed with energy and water efficient fixtures and will be built using environmentally friendly practices and materials.
The medical examiner conducts death investigations, including postmortem examinations of bodies, in order to determine cause and manner of death in cases that meet certain criteria as defined under state law, such as sudden or suspicious deaths.
