Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation broke ground recently on a new field office being built in Lexington. It will be located behind the Lowe's off Sunset Boulevard.
Mayor Steve MacDougall was there to represent the Town of Lexington and Major Matt Davis attended from the Lexington Police Department. They each helped turn a shovel of dirt during the groundbreaking ceremonies. They were joined by Chief Deputy Greg Shockley of the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Assistant Chief Scott Morrison of the West Columbia Police Department, and a representative from the South Carolina State Highway Patrol.
The FBI has had a field office in Columbia for many years, but they had simply outgrown the space they are in. This meant that they had to spread out into several complexes which was less than optimal. This new Lexington office allows them to have all their personnel under one roof in the same location. According to the Bureau, this will greatly improve communications.
The additional space was not only needed for their agents and their supporting staff, but it may also allow them to consolidate every day mundane, but necessary tasks like working on their fleet vehicles. Additionally, they think that they will be able to provide space for many of their special operations units and equipment.
Although the government agency in charge of acquiring space for operations like the FBI usually tries to find an existing building that can be remodeled and upfitted, in this case it turned out it was better to build something new. They chose Lexington because it’s still centrally located in the state and has plenty of available real estate to choose from. It’s also close to three major interstate highways and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport if their personnel need to travel quickly.
If all goes well, construction is expected to be complete in 2021.
