The potential site for a new Greenwood Fire Station is seen Wednesday in Greenwood. GLA Properties recently donated about 3.4 acres of land on South Graham Road near the Interstate 65 and Worthsville Road interchange to the city of Greenwood for a new fire station.
NOAH CRENSHAW | DAILY JOURNAL
After years of discussions, Greenwood is inching closer to the reality of a fire station on the city’s southeast side.
Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties donated about 3.4 acres of land to the Greenwood Fire Department for a new station. The property is located at 1763 S. Graham Road, just east of the Interstate 65 and Worthsville Road interchange.
For years, the city has been talking about building a fifth fire station. It currently has four stations, three in intercardinal directions across the city, and one in Old Town Greenwood.
The fifth station would address development in southeast Greenwood, and the talk of adding a station in the area only increased with the construction of the Worthsville Road interchange in 2015. The station, when constructed, would be the second fire station east of the railroad tracks in Greenwood.
“With the amount of growth we’ve had on the southeast side and the amount of businesses there, there’s a higher demand for fire coverage in that area,” Mayor Mark Myers said. “The demand will be there — and is there now — with the amount of people.”
Hundreds of new homes and tens of warehouses have been built in the last decade in southeast Greenwood, as well as new Clark-Pleasant schools, such as the recently completed Ray Crowe Elementary.
The city knew it wanted a station near the interchange, but did not have an exact location until recently when Myers began working with Scannell on a land donation for the station.
“Scannell bought the properties out there, and they had a piece of land out there on the southside, and in the future, we know we need to build a fifth firehouse,” Myers said. “So I talked to them and they agreed to donate the land.”
Scannell has a long-standing relationship with the community and investing in the communities it works in.
“When we heard there was a potential future need for a new fire department, we knew we wanted to donate the land,” Shaun Cofer, Scannell’s development manager, said in a statement.
Though the land was donated, a new station is still a few years down the road. In addition to designing and building the station, the city would need to hire at least 12 firefighters to staff the station, Myers said.
“I’m very happy they donated the land. They understood the need for public service out there,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the future where we are able to afford firefighters and build the new station.”
For the fire department, a new station would relieve the burden on other stations as they face increasing runs, especially in growing southeast Greenwood. In 2021, the department’s calls were up more than 2,000 compared to 2020, said Darin Hoggatt, fire chief.
“Obviously it’s just gonna keep getting busier and (a new station is) going to help spread out the load.”
The Greenwood Board of Public Works and Safety approved the donation earlier this month, and it is now pending approval from city attorneys.
Correction: Jan. 31, 2022 at 10:05 a.m.
A previous version of this story erroneously said the station would be the city’s first station east of the railroad tracks. It would be the second. This story has since been updated.
