In the past four decades, the number of firefighters ready to respond to fires, accidents and medical emergencies has grown, but the Franklin fire station they work out of has not.
And in recent years, Franklin has added one fire station and replaced another. Now, officials say it’s time to do something about the third and busiest fire station.
When Franklin Fire Station 21 was built in 1974 at 1701 N. Main St., the brick building housed just two firefighters. The building now is home to a staff of five but can go up to seven on occasion. They respond to more than half of the fire department calls in Franklin each year, Franklin Fire Department Chief Dan McElyea said.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe growth has led to cramped quarters for the firefighters and officers, he said.
The city is now considering two options: tear the building down and build a new facility or remodel and try to add space by either expanding outward or upward.
The Franklin Board of Public Works and Safety approved spending $29,000 to hire a consultant who will study the building and provide the city with recommendations on what the best solutions are and how much they would cost. The study will take several months, McElyea said.
In the past six years, Franklin has replaced one fire station and added a new one on the north side of the city. The city spent $1.25 million to construct Station 23 of off U.S. 31 on the north side of Franklin in 2010. Station 22, off of King Street near Interstate 65, was built in 2011 at the cost of $1.7 million, replacing a former fire station at Forsythe and Hamilton streets.
Although Station 21 is by far the oldest of the three fire stations, it responds to 60 percent of the fire calls due to its central location, McElyea said.
With access to Main Street and U.S. 31, the station is ideally situated, McElyea said.
“You can’t beat the location,” he said.
McElyea wants the fire station to remain on the same property, if at all possible.
But renovating the station could prove to be difficult. The building is made up of concrete block walls, and all of the wiring and plumbing is hidden inside them, which means rearranging space inside of the building would be challenging, McElyea said.
Another challenge with renovation would be with bringing the building into compliance with current construction and accessibility rules, he said.
For example, while the bunk room does have an exit door, the room doesn’t have any windows, which would be required under current construction codes, McElyea said.
The location also doesn’t allow for much room to expand. While the building doesn’t completely fill the property, it doesn’t have much extra room to grow outward. One option to remain on the same lot could be adding a second story to the building, McElyea said, but they won’t know if that is a possibility with the current structure until after the consultants have examined the building.
The goal is for the building to last 40 years, which means future growth needs to be taken into account, McElyea said.
He would like to see the station be capable of housing a staff of nine people, which would provide more flexibility in the number and types of vehicles that could be operated out of the building.
One major need is separate bedrooms and offices, McElyea said.
All of the firefighters share the same bunk room, which is crowded. While they’ve made do with some dividers to add a little bit of privacy, a new or remodeled building would have separate bunk rooms and offices similar to the two newer stations, he said.
The station also doesn’t have any gender-designated bathrooms or showers, McElyea said.
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Franklin city officials are looking into the possibility of remodeling or replacing Fire Station 21. Here is a look at the building:
Age: built in 1974.
Address: 1701 N. Main St.
Staff: 5-7
Vehicles: 1,000 gallon fire engine, two SUVs, a boat and a utility truck
Calls responded to: about 1,500 each year
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