SWANSBORO, N.C. (WNCT) – With the North Carolina budget passed, funds are being allocated to different cities and towns throughout the state.

In Eastern North Carolina, one town is looking forward to some new improvements. The Town of Swansboro received $3.2 million in this year’s budget, which will all be going toward veterans and first responders. 

The current public safety building for the town’s police officers and firefighters has held up through a lot of storms over the years. However, they did leave some leaks afterward.

“The cost to renovate this one to get it up to Hurricane Cat Four standards is very exorbitant. So we feel it’s better to go ahead and build something new at this point,” said Swansboro Mayor John Davis. 

The town plans to use $3 million of the budget to give the local first responders more space, with a larger garage for their vehicles, a gym, sleeping quarters, and an emergency operations center.

“We have a large growth of folks coming in, and we live here 24/7. So the larger facility will definitely help,” said Assistant Fire Chief William Stanley. 

“I think it’s definitely an asset to us to be able to provide a better service to the public,” added Lt. Benjamin Brim with the Swansboro Police Department. 

The other $200,000 is going towards a veterans garden memorial, which has been about six years in the works already.

“It’ll give us a place for our veterans to go on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, it can be any day of the week when they need somewhere to just go and have a place of solace, a place of remembrance, it provides that,” said Davis.

With the closest military memorials being in Jacksonville, local veterans are excited to see something to recognize them here in Swansboro.

“I am a veteran, 20 years in the Marine Corps, and definitely the memorial would be a great thing to see you out here,” said Stanley.

Officials are unsure of an exact timeline for their projects, but they thank the state legislature for giving them the funds to get started.