Fire Chief Mike Williams, right, gets help from his crew of firefighters during the groundbreaking of the new fire hall on St. Thomas, Friday.
Elected officials from East Ridge along with firefighters from the ERFD officially broke ground on the new Fire Hall No. 2, Friday afternoon.
“I’m tickled to death,” said Fire Chief Mike Williams. “It’s a happy day for the city and a happy day for the fire department.”
The new fire hall, which is situated in the 1400 block of St. Thomas Street, is on the east side of Interstate 75 and will provide coverage to the end of the city which has experienced a good deal of residential and business growth in the last year.
One resident, Jeffery Myers, said he welcomes his new neighbors.
“I really like it,” Myers said, whose home since last December has been directly across from the new fire hall. “I think it’s a real positive for the neighborhood.”
Myers said that he’s not worried about sirens from emergency vehicles disturbing he and his family at all hours of the day.
“I’ve been told they are not going to hit the sirens until they get out to Ringgold Road,” he said.
J & J Contractors was awarded a bid last month of $1.499 million to build the three-bay hall. The city had originally budgeted $1 million for the construction of the No. 2 Fire Hall, officials said. The additional $500,000 will come from the city’s reserve funds, said City Manager Scott Miller.
The city had to relocate the fire hall to make room for development of the Bass Pro Shops on Camp Jordan Parkway. Originally, the city was to have provided an extra $1 million in incentives to the developers and have them build the fire hall.
City officials had looked at numerous sites over the past nine months, including at least two parcels on Ringgold Road, records show.
Mayor Brent Lambert said he was pleased that the fire hall is finally getting underway.
“It’s been a long time in the making,” Lambert said after he and fellow council members scooped up a ceremonial shovel full of dirt.
The property came with a price tag of $145,000. Records show that it was purchased from Nathaniel Robinette and Synergy Properties.
In a recent City Council meeting, Don Sells of River City Architecture explained several issues associated with using recycled material from the old fire hall that was dismantled in April 2015. Sells said he and others will analyze the cost per square foot of utilizing the frame from the old fire hall. Using the recycled material may only save the city about $7 a square foot. Sells told the Council in an October meeting that it will actually cost more money to incorporate the recycled materials into the new building.
Sells presented renderings of the new fire station to the council in October. The fire hall will be very similar to the old fire station but will have a third bay.
River Street will be paid $56,000 for its services.
