The Carrollton City Council voted today to approve the purchase of a parcel of land on the corner of Lovvorn and Brumbelow Road to build a new interactive community-focused fire station. The new station will replace the city’s old firehouse on Brumbelow Road, which was destroyed by a tornado on April 3.
“Since that particular fire station received a large amount of international attention, I think we need to capitalize on this opportunity to make this a citizen-focused fire station that we can use to educate our community,” said Councilman Gerald Byrd. “We can have things like touch-screen technology, and other educational tools for people to use and learn more about fire safety, and also how to be weather prepared in case of an emergency.”
Byrd elaborated on the City’s vision for the new fire station.
“It needs to serve somewhat as a welcome center of safety for our citizens, as well as university students and parents,” said Byrd. “We want to encourage citizens to stop by and learn by getting involved in using some interactive technology that helps teach people about safety measures they need to take in the event of emergencies or catastrophe.”
Carrollton City Fire Chief Jimmy Bearden expressed his approval of the idea, noting that the new fire station could serve as a hub for education of residents on fire safety and weather preparedness.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Bearden. “We put as much emphasis on fire prevention as we do on fighting fires. It’s a good opportunity for us to help teach people how to be prepared for severe weather and fires.”
City Manager Tim Grizzard said the new fire station is set to be built on an 0.87-acre lot. The lot is currently owned by the UWG Foundation, and was appraised at $190,000. The Foundation agreed to sell the land to the City of Carrollton for $100,000.
“It’s a more suitable location because it’s on level ground,” said Bearden. “The other station was built on a hill, and we had problems with the trucks sliding when we had ice on the ground. The new station is also located on a corner, so we have a four-street access point, which really helps us in responding to calls. We’re extremely proud to get started on this.”
Byrd said the City could possibly design the building to reflect the architecture of the nearby UWG Greek Village, or it could also be designed according to the old mill-styled architecture in order to resemble Carrollton’s historic cotton mills.
“It would be really neat if the building style could reflect the terrain of the area in architecture,” said Byrd. “We could design it to reflect the Greek village architectural style or the mill district style. I think it’s something we can be proud of, and I think we have a great opportunity to do something really unique, and also to do something to make Carrollton shine even more than it already does.”
