SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The city of South Charleston approved the bonds Thursday night at its city council meeting to get construction for its new firehouse underway.
The $2.7 million facility is expected to be completed by April 2016.
“I’d like to get it up and going here in the next few days. Demolition has already taken place, so we’re ready to go,” said Mayor Frank Mullens. “We hope to cut the cost as we go. That being said we’re not going to anything to cheapen the building. We want it to be a first class state-of-the-art station.”
Mullens explained that the city wants the new station to not only be a firehouse, but also a landmark.
“It’s in our downtown area. We want it to be a showpiece, we want it to be a first-class facility. Maybe put some things around it so people in the business community want to come down and eat lunch,” he said. “It’s going to be a great addition to our downtown.”
The new building will feature updated living conditions and a training facility, but Mullens said there will also be an updated alarm system.
“We’re going to update the siren with the county. It’s going to be what’s called a speaking siren. It’s going to be an upgrade for emergency services. Different disasters will have different tones is my understanding,” Mullens said.