CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Plans to build a new fire station in the South Hills community of Charleston moved forward Monday night, as the Charleston City Council approved allowing City Manager David Molgaard to enter an agreement to build a new facility on Oakwood Road.
Molgaard said he will enter an agreement with Ohio-based Wolf Creek Contracting Co. for building Fire Station No. 3, a $1.1 million project.
“We’ve been operating out of a training center, which is just on the other side of the Kanawha River,” he said. “We wanted to put an engine company and an ambulance company back on the south side of the Kanawha River just in case there were issues with the bridge.”
The station had moved to the Charleston Fire Department Training Center at 115 Lee St. W. after the South Hills station was destroyed in July 2016.
Molgaard said representatives of Wolf Creek Contracting not only made the lowest offer in terms of price, but also construction time.
“In 180 days, we’ll have basically the base bid portion of it completed,” Molgaard said.
Molgaard said the city is looking at outfitting the second-floor dormitories for the fire fighters using in-house labor.
The city council also approved authorizing $80,000 to acquire property on Charleston’s East End for the Religious Coalition for Community Renewal, who will use the property for the construction of three single-family housing units.
“What (cities) want to see is the stability that home ownership creates,” said Zora Rogers, HOME Program supervisor for the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development. “As an economic investment, you can’t invest in anything better than where you are going to live because your value is going to continue to increase for the individual. That’s going to mean money down the road.”
Council also approved allowing Appalachian Boarding Company to use Magic Island as a launch pad for stand-up paddle boards. According to Park and Recreations Committee Chairwoman Susie Salisbury, no permanent structures will be needed to allow for the company to operate at Magic Island.