The fire department bought the land for the new station, which is about a mile west of the current station, five years ago, Chief David Padgett said before the ceremony. Its need goes back longer than that.
“We spent probably five years looking for the ideal spot,” he said. “At the time this land wasn’t available.”
Then the land, a corn field which was recently harvested, became available and the fire department bought it.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Halifax Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman James Pierce said before the ceremony. “The community deserves it. It’s been a long time coming.”
During the ceremony Padgett spoke from one of the department’s trucks and asked the audience to give a moment of silence for Steve Edmonds, the department’s chief for 36 years who died last February.
As Edmonds’ health declined, firefighters would carry him upstairs in his wheelchair for meetings, Padgett said.
For the fire department, the new station will eliminate parking woes, have access for the disabled and bays which allow fire trucks to move in and out with ease. “When we have to pull a truck out we can’t get the center truck out,” Padgett said.
Ronald Jones, a charter member of the fire department, remembered when the department started. “When we started so many people were doing so many different things,” he said.
The new building, Jones said, “Is going to carry us for the next 50 years. We’ve really come a long way. A lot of people have been so instrumental. We have a good chief today,” he said of Padgett, remembering when he started firefighters used to call him hair because of his 70s hairdo. “I’m glad I lived long enough to get to see it.”
While the department is proud of its accomplishments, Jones said, “The thing we’re most proud of is the community. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts. They never fuss so we must be something right.”
Paul Heaton, of Heaton Construction, which will build the approximately 20,000 square feet fire station, said the work will be a local effort, made up of local contractors and subcontractors. “The building is going to be a state-of-the-art facility. It will be hard to find anything like it across the state or the nation.”
The station will have multiple bays, places to store equipment and a place where firefighters can eat and stay if necessary. “There will be plenty of parking with multiple drives off (US) 158. Heaton Construction is very proud to be involved in this facility.”
Heaton said construction will begin Friday will probably take about six months.
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