The city of North Myrtle Beach will have a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for a new fire station, which will be the city's fifth.
The nearly $1.5 million station will be slightly larger than the others and include a police precinct with three offices and a meeting/training room in the rear of the building, City Manager John Smithson said.
The city's other fire stations include: Main, 1015 Second Avenue South; Cherry Grove, Sea Mountain Highway; Little River Neck Road, 5345 Little River Neck Road; and Windy Hill, 33rd Avenue South.
Chief Tom Barstow of North Myrtle Beach Fire & Rescue said the recent addition of fire stations helps keep up with growth and improve fire service for the area. Two of the five were built in 2001.
City officials took bids on the Barefoot Resort Fire Station in July, and chose Gilbert Construction, the lowest bidder and one of five contractors who bid, in August. Gilbert Construction priced the project at $1,437,814.
The Barefoot Fire Station, 4740 Barefoot Resort Road, is scheduled to be completed by April 2005, Barstow said.
"Because of development at Barefoot Resort, there is a need for a fire station over there," Barstow said. "Development is going crazy over there."
If all goes as planned, the Barefoot Resort development in North Myrtle Beach will end up with a marina, spa, restaurant, conference space and five condominium buildings on site by 2007.
The city anticipates about 15,000 occupants in Barefoot during the height of summer, Barstow said.
He also said the fire station is needed because there could be a delay in fire service if the swing bridge is turned, since the nearest station is Windy Hill, which is some distance away. And it is needed to keep the department's ISO rating, he said.
ISO is the nation's leading analyst of fire coverage. Most insurance companies base their rates on a community's ISO rating, which ranges from 1 to 9. Lower numbers are better ratings.
North Myrtle Beach Fire & Rescue has an ISO rating of 3.
ISO sets its ratings based on the distance to a fire station, the type of equipment used and firefighter training, as well as available water pressure and whether it comes from a truck, a hydrant or a pond.
Developers and future Barefoot Resort owners will pay the station's price tag.
Premier Resorts, a Park City, Utah-based condominium developer that manages the Barefoot Resort development in North Myrtle Beach, set aside $900,000 in an escrow account to help the city pay for the station.
The city will pay the difference and will be repaid through a one-time $450 development fee that will be charged on new-condo buyers in the Town Center area of the Barefoot Resort development until the difference is covered, Smithson said.
