Warning system to be tested

It looks like a strange spaceship has landed on the roof of the Children’s Discovery Museum in Uptown Normal, but, in fact, it’s a new, very sophisticated outdoor warning system for Uptown and the surrounding areas.

On Monday, officials installed the outdoor warning system on the roof of the Children’s Discovery Museum, at 101 East Beaufort Street, and successfully tested the warning siren tones during the first Tuesday monthly test. On Friday morning, the Town of Normal will be testing the public address features of the new system between 10:00 a.m. and noon. There will be no siren sounds during this test, only test voice announcements.

“What makes this system unique from the other mechanical sirens in town, is that in addition to siren tones for tornadoes or severe weather, we can also use it to broadcast pre-recorded or live voice messages to the public,” said Fire Chief, Mick Humer (HYOO-mer).

Humer adds, “We want to ensure that if we have a large gathering of people in our Uptown District, be it for Sugar Creek Arts Festival, the Sweet Corn and Blues Festival, or any other mass gathering, that we have the ability to broadcast emergency information in real-time, and that the message can be heard clearly.”