A state-of-the-art fire station is taking shape on 38th Avenue North, surrounded by residential and commercial development, and fire officials expect it to be busy when it opens next month.
The $1.6 million facility, between Robert M. Grissom Parkway and Oak Street, will help the Fire Department keep pace with area growth and continue to respond quickly to emergencies, Lt. Dan Walker of the Myrtle Beach Fire Department said.
"Strategically, we needed another station to service this area," he said. The station will cover roughly from 21st Avenue North to 44th Avenue North. It also will backstop some of the busier areas handled by Station 2 on North Kings Highway and Station 1 on Mr. Joe White Avenue.
The two-story, 9,800-square-foot station is scheduled to open in mid-July. It will feature three bays, separate living quarters for firefighters and commanding officers, and amenities such as a gym and a high-tech media room for training.
Twenty-one firefighters will work out of the building, which also has an air-tank-filling station for the three fire companies in the north end of town, and a community room that will be available for local groups to meet, Walker said.
On a recent afternoon, a worker on a crane put the finishing touches on the masonry work of the brick facade while another smoothed the graveled driveway with a steamroller. The project is being handled by Hay Construction Co. Inc. of Myrtle Beach.
City leaders have allocated $800,000 for the 2005-06 budget year to cover operational costs and to pay for a pumper and ladder truck that will be housed at the station, city spokesman Mark Kruea said.
"It's a growing part of town from a residential and commercial standpoint," Kruea said. "Not only are we building things, but we're also annexing things that were not formerly part of the city."
The area includes professional office parks, single- and multifamily dwellings, and senior housing, said Pat Dowling, a spokesman for Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns land around the area where the station is being built.
"It's a rapidly growing mixed-use area that is in demand," he said.
Even before firefighters move into the new facility - the city's sixth station - plans already are on the drawing board for a seventh station to be located near Coastal Grand Myrtle Beach mall, Kruea said.
There also are plans to retool an old maintenance area at the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base and move Fire Station 4 to the remodeled building.
Station 4 currently shares space with the members of the Horry County Department of Airports Fire Department at Myrtle Beach International Airport.
Distributed by the Associated Press
