Heather Gann
al.com
(TNS)
New fire stations are a hot ticket item in Jefferson County this summer.
Over the next year the cities of Gardendale and Mountain Brook will be spending nearly $10 million on new facilities for their fire departments, according to permits pulled by Southern Exposure Information.
Mountain Brook City Manager Sam Gaston said the new $7.7 million station coming to Overton Road is a necessary upgrade.
“The existing station is 60 years old and although we have done some remodeling and additions, it has reached its useful life,” he said. “It has septic tank issues, too. The new station will be on sewer.”
Vestavia Hills’ Stone Building LLC broke ground on the project last month, and it is expected to be complete next June or July, according to Gaston.
And Gardendale’s new $2.2 million station on Tarrant Road is being constructed to cover the more isolated parts of the growing city, according to mayor Stan Hogeland.
“It’s not hard to notice that we’ve grown over the last several years, and we had an area of town that was the most isolated area remaining,” he said. “So, we chose the location on Tarrant Road strategically to just basically fill in the gap. And it will just enable us to cover the city and the citizens more effectively.”
Hogeland said the station is expected to be complete by November or December of this year.
Published reports indicate another fire station is underway over the mountain. The Hoover Sun reported on the June 4 groundbreaking for a new Hoover Station 1 in the Green Valley area.
Other projects
Florida contracting company Broad Metro LLC recently received a $1.1 million permit for continued construction on Hoover’s Village Green amphitheater. The project is part of Hoover’s ever expanding Village Green entertainment district, first announced in 2020.
As The Birmingham News previously reported, the completed site will feature a seating area for up to 1,500 people, a large concert stage, and space for up to 20 vendors.
In total, 18 commercial permits were issued in the metro totaling over $23.6 million since May 16. Vestavia Hills was responsible for half of these with 9 permits totaling over $7 million.
The remaining 9 were divided among Birmingham, Alabaster, Gardendale, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Chelsea, and Hoover. Mountain Brook’s new fire station was the most expensive commercial permit of this period.
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