At long last, Fayette County has approved a construction contract to build a new fire station for the Tyrone area that will be relocated near the Sandy Creek school complex on Jenkins Road at Ga. Highway 74.
A $1.8 million construction bid from Ward General Contractors was approved Thursday night by the Fayette County Commission.
The current fire station 3 site in downtown Tyrone has suffered from septic issues that have forced water use to be limited, and crews have had to send clothes to other stations to be washed, said Fire Chief David Scarbrough. It was built in 1977 and has had some response issues due to its location near the railroad tracks, he added.
The new station will be served by a sewer line.
“This project has been years in the making,” Scarbrough said.
The 6.6-acre site will have a 9,487 sq. ft. station and room to locate a future water tower on the same parcel, officials said.
The design of this building is a departure from the layout used for the last several fire stations built by the county, and the main reason is to allow more room for expansion in the future if necessary.
The last few fire stations built by the county have separate crew quarters on either side of the equipment bay, so expanding them requires going out the rear or the front of the bay. In this new design, the living quarters are on one side of the building so it will be easier to expand on the other side.
