By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer

PRICE HILL - The most visible symbol of how the role of local government has changed may be the 40,000-square-foot building that sits atop Knob Hill in Cincinnati's West Side.

The former headquarters of the Slush Puppie Corp. is being transformed into a computerized command center that will bring Greater Cincinnati fire, police and public health officials together with 911 operations, thanks to $500,000 in homeland security grant money that is being used to build it.

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By year's end, it will be an emergency response center, complete with a sleek operating pit filled with giant video screens and rows of computer stations.

While it is a city of Cincinnati project, city officials hope that emergency responders from surrounding counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, along with federal and state agencies, will place offices there as well.

The new command center is the result of the millions in federal homeland security dollars that have flowed into the region in the past two years, filtered through state government, which keeps 20 percent of the federal dollars.

Since July 2002, Hamilton County has received nearly $2.7 million in homeland security grants, with the money going to public health infrastructure, emergency medical service equipment and training, and fire and police training.

In other Southwest Ohio counties, the grants break down as follows:

•  Clermont County: $836,130.
•  Butler County: $572,490.
•  Warren County: $812,160.

In Kentucky, Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced in May that the state would distribute about $35 million in federal homeland security grants to counties and cities. Joe Schrader of the Kentucky Homeland Security Office said the first set of awards will be announced next week.

On both sides of the river, county governments have helped organize Citizens Corps groups. Citizens can volunteer to help local first-responders in the event of a terrorist attack, an epidemic or natural disaster.

Boone County has about 170 people in its Citizens Corps, said Mark Ihrig, deputy director of the Boone County Emergency Management Agency.

"These are people who would come forward in a time of need anyway,'' Ihrig said. "But, with Citizens Corps, we have people with training who can help us if the worst happens.''

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E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com