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Building commission eyes property for fire station

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Building Commission signaled its intent this week to buy a piece of property for a new fire station.

The building commission, which is overseeing the project to replace the city’s three oldest fire stations, voted Monday to issue a letter of intent to purchase 1406 Covert St., adjacent to Station 2, for $31,000, Mayor Tom Joyce said.

A house and a garage/apartment on the property will be torn down.

The additional ground is needed to expand the footprint for the new fire station, Joyce said.

“Our hope is to build on that existing land,” he said.

Station 2 will be the first of the three stations to be replaced, with officials hoping its construction will serve as a template for the other two.

“It will be the prototype in both design and concept,” Joyce said.

The property is behind Station 2 and will be used to build the one-story floor plan for the new station, said Parkersburg Fire Chief Jason Matthews.

Officials are looking to build the new stations right where the old ones stood to maintain good response times. Matthews said these locations allow firefighters to respond in less than four minutes to their service areas, a national standard by which fire departments must abide.

All three existing stations face a variety of structural issues, including leaking roofs and basements, shifting foundations and garages barely large enough to accommodate modern fire trucks.

Station 3 was built in 1931 at 13th and Liberty streets. Station 4, located at West Virginia and Emerson avenues, was built in 1932, the same year as the original Station 2.

Joyce said one of the other stations has enough available land to build what they are planning and officials are working to acquire an adjacent piece of property to the other station. While he declined to elaborate at this time, early planning documents indicated some interest in the Speedway property adjacent to Station 4.

The mayor hopes they can close on the property for the station at 16th and Covert in the next 30 days, but said factors could impact that.

Matthews said construction could begin as early as this fall or next spring.

There is still design work to do and funding needs to be secured for construction.

“We are working toward that,” Matthews said. “There are a lot of steps that need to be taken. We are taking the necessary steps and checking things off the list.”

The commission also approved the hiring of John Stump of Steptoe and Johnson as bond counsel.

Assistant City Attorney Rob Tebay will be doing title work and other work regarding the transaction.

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