Ground was broken Thursday for the fire station on Jenkins Road that will replace the station on Senoia Road in the center of Tyrone. Construction time for the nearly 9,500 sq. ft. Fire Station 3 is 300 days.
Located on the southeast corner of Jenkins Road and Ga. Highway 74, the 6.6-acre tract will be the new home of Fire Station 3. Totaling 9,487 sq. ft., the design of the 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, said Deputy Fire Chief Tom Bartlett.
Bartlett said 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, Bartlett said.
“Fire stations are built with a vision of being 50-year buildings,” Bartlett said. “… It’s really going to be a great design. We are building this with the future in mind and that’s the main thing.”
Bartlett said fire station will replace the current station on Senoia Road in Tyrone and will house the personnel and trucks from the present station. The new station will serve the fire district that extends well beyond the town limits, Bartlett noted.
Another reason for relocating the existing Station 3 in downtown Tyrone is due to the septic tank problems that building has experienced, Bartlett said. The upside of the new fire station is that it will be connected to the city’s sewer system.
Some long-time Tyrone residents will miss having Station 3 downtown. But the new location is “logistically better” for the fire department in terms of response times for its coverage area, Bartlett said.
The project document calls for the station to be completed in 300 days.
The $1.8 million project is funded by the county fire tax fund.
The fire station architect is the Howell Group and the builder is Ward General Contractors.
The fire station site will provide room for a future water tower that has been previously discussed. Once constructed at some point in the future, the water tower could be positioned at the rear of the 6.6-acre property.
