Lafayette 911 has moved from the windowless basement at the courthouse to a $9.6-million facility designed for virtually any emergency. The Lafayette Parish Emergency Communications Center was built with 911 operators in mind. It was designed to allow for new technology and other expansions Lafayette’s emergency services may need. The board that oversees Lafayette 911, Lafayette Parish Communication District, started planning for the new building in the early 2000s, taking note of how the courthouse basement had to be retrofitted for upgrades, said Craig Stansbury, the director of Lafayette 911. "We were outgrowing it (the basement)," he said. "The board members knew they would need a new building.