City officials, firefighters, and construction partners held a March 15 groundbreaking ceremony for Fire Station 42 – a milestone step in the rebuilding of a distinctly Milton home for first responders.
Earlier: Milton (GA) Fire-Rescue Department Closes Station for Demolition, New Construction
The Tuesday afternoon event took place on the Thompson Road location where the previous Station 42 once stood and where a new version will soon take place.
Mayor Peyton Jamison gave opening remarks recalling his first visit (around 2017) to the old Fire Station 42, recognizing then it was due for an upgrade. That 3,800-square foot building was built in the 1970s and turned over from Fulton County to Milton in 2006 at the time of the City’s incorporation.
Related Articles:
Milton (GA) Seeking $1.4M Grant for Fire Equipment
Roswell, Milton (GA) Fire Stations Recognized for Promoting Census
Milton (GA) Fire-Rescue Is Getting a Quint
Milton (GA) Fire-Rescue’s Station 41 Shut Down Due to Black Mold
Milton (GA) Fire-Rescue’s Station 41 Almost Ready for Reopening After Black Mold Problem
Fire Chief Gabe Benmoussa then spoke about the importance of fire stations reflecting the community in which they’re based. That will certainly be the case for the new station, which will resemble a white barn and the general rural, equestrian aesthetic commonly seen in Milton.
The last speaker was Community Development Director Bob Buscemi, who oversees major City building projects like this one. CROFT designed Milton’s new Station 42, while Cooper Construction will build it. Members of both those companies were on hand for Tuesday’s ceremony.
The previous Station 42 was demolished about one year ago, months after the unveiling of plans for its successor. The City began soliciting bids at a time when construction costs happened to be skyrocketing, leading to all bids coming in over budget. City staff worked to find cost savings to lower the overall financial impact without taking away from safety, overall look, and other fundamental elements of the new building.
This culminated in reopened bidding that led to the City Council’s vote earlier this month for Cooper Construction to build the new Station 42.
Drivers-by may notice people on the Thompson Road grounds over the coming weeks as part of the site preparation process. Heavy equipment and full-on construction should commence in the next few months, with the goal for the entire project to be competed sometime in spring 2023.
The rebuilt Fire Station 42 will be an upgrade on all fronts — a 6,500-square feet building with five to twelve parking spaces, five sleeping cubes to eight bunk rooms. The one-story station will have a barn look, back patio, open trusses, and a main communal space. Perhaps most importantly, its drive-through bays mean firefighters will no longer need to get out and back the fire truck in from Thompson Road and, instead, can drive in directly.
