Edinburgh officials broke ground on Monday on the new Edinburgh Fire Station 41.
Friends and family members came out to show their support towards the firefighters in the next step of opening a new station, on County Road 900 North. The town’s fire operations will be relocated to this property from the current location at 203 S. Walnut St.
The project is expected to cost $3.5 million dollars. The town is funding the building with a BOT, or Build Operate Transfer, agreement. In this type of agreement, a developer funds and arranges financing for the project and when it is complete it becomes the property of the town. The town will pay back the financed amount over 10 years at a 2.5% interest rate, said Dan Cartwright, town manager.
The new building will provide more space for equipment and personal space for each of the firefighters. Following the decision a few years ago to have firefighters on duty 24/7, town council members wanted to make sure the firefighters have a modern living space with separate sleeping rooms, Cartwright said.
“Well, our firefighters have been living in really substandard conditions. It’s a really old fire station, with no separate sleeping rooms, and it’s just very jam packed so they were in desperate need of a new one,” Cartwright said.
Edinburgh Fire Chief John Henderson said he is “truly overwhelmed” with the support the fire department has received for the new fire station.
“I couldn’t be happier that the council has supported the idea of really giving these guys proper accommodations to consolidate our equipment and to make them feel more comfortable while working,” Henderson said.
The new accommodations are also likely to help with recruitment, Henderson said.
“We hope this is a recruitment opportunity, we’ve talked to other departments and they have invested like this as well and were able to recruit more,” Henderson said. “We hope that happens, we are going to start another fire training program in July to train some of our own.”
Along with Henderson many of the firefighters are glad the town council made it a priority to build the new station.
“Just overwhelmed, it’s just the kindness everyone’s shown us for our department, they really made an investment … I know we have some needs and I know we have to grow with the town and catch up on a lot of different things,” Henderson said. “We can provide better service and for them to just make us a focal point and to invest in us is tremendous.”
Another benefit is the new station’s location. The current station is in heart of downtown, but it takes a while to get to commercial and industrial areas on U.S. 31 and Interstate 65. The new location is centrally located for fast access to both downtown and commercial and industrial areas. The amount of time it takes to get downtown will be further reduced when the town completes a planned Main Street extension project.
Construction on the station is expected start in July and the station is expected to be complete by May 2023, Cartwright said.
