Waynesboro breaks ground on long-anticipated fire station
Waynesboro has broken ground on a long-anticipated new fire station in the city's West End, some 17 years after a referendum in which voters approved the project.
City officials have called the project overdue after a study found that Waynesboro is the only Virginia of its size, now at 22,803 people, that lacked a second fire station.
The station, which is expected to take a year to complete, will allow firefighters to more quickly respond to emergencies in the city's growing West End.
Crews broke ground on the project at the corner of Osage Lane and Lew DeWitt Boulevard Tuesday.
Waynesboro City Manager Mike Hamp told The News Virginian the 12,000-square-foot station on 2 1/2 acres has a price tag of about $6.9 million.
While he estimated it will take a year to complete, he cautioned that the time frame for construction "is subject to variables, chiefly weather."
According to a 2022 report from Hamp, the city's single fire station was meeting National Fire Protection Association minimum response times only 35% of the time in the West End. With the new station, the expectation is that the fire department could meet the minimum response time of 5 minutes and 20 seconds about 90% of the time.
Waynesboro City Councilman Terry Short, the at-large member on the council, said he is glad the city worked in 2022 to purchase the site and get the project moving.
"We are creating an environment more timely and also providing an opportunity for our firefighters to have a modern space,'' Short told The News Virginian. He also said that should another pandemic occur, the extra space would allow firefighters to be quarantined in different stations and not cohabitate in a single structure.
"It's a great day for the city,'' Short said. "Our first responders will benefit from the flexibility and how we respond to emergencies."
Another councilman spoke of the long delay in the construction of the facility being over.
"We're extremely happy,'' Waynesboro Vice Mayor Jim Wood told The News Virginian. "I would like to see the construction done earlier, but I'm happy it's happening."
Wood said the addition of expanded emergency services indicates that Waynesboro is "growing at a big rate."
Councilman Kenny Lee, who represents Ward C, told The News Virginian that considering the growth in the West End, "this is very much needed and is good for the city."
The project's design architects and engineers are Hughes and Associates of Roanoke. Lantz Construction of Broadway is the contractor.
Bob Stuart (540) 932-3562 on X
