Daphne’s City Council has approved a construction contract to repair and reopen a fire station that has sat closed for more than a year, ending a stretch during which one of the city’s four fully staffed stations was out of service.
Fire Station No. 3 sits on Lawson Road near the east gate of the Lake Forest subdivision and close to Daphne High School. The building was shut down in February 2014 after officials found mold and air quality problems that made it unsafe for firefighters to occupy. Since then, the station’s crew has operated out of a facility on Main Street, roughly four miles away through the winding streets of Lake Forest.
The council initially sought bids for the repair work last year, but the lowest offer came in around $550,000, far above the $200,000 to $300,000 range city officials had expected for the roughly 20-year-old building. Rather than accept the high bid, the council sent the project back out for rebidding in January. This week, council members voted unanimously to award a $414,500 contract to a Daphne-based construction firm. An additional $24,870 was set aside for architectural fees and $10,000 for replacement furnishings, bringing the total project cost to about $449,370.
Council members acknowledged the price tag was higher than they had hoped but said the ongoing public safety concerns of operating with a station down left little room for further delay. The finance committee chairman noted that construction costs have risen since the city built its most recent station, and that simplifying the scope of the project helped bring the bid down from the rejected proposal.
Daphne’s fire chief said running one of the city’s four staffed stations short has taken a toll on emergency response, particularly for residents living deep in the Lake Forest subdivision, where narrow, winding streets already add time to any call. The chief said crews are eager to get back into a station built specifically for that part of the city.
Daphne, a city of more than 23,000 residents in Baldwin County, also operates a fully staffed station on Profit Drive that opened in 2013 and another off Green Court in the Timbercreek subdivision north of Interstate 10. A fifth station, staffed by volunteers, operates out of Olde Towne Daphne behind City Hall.
As part of the renovation, the three-bedroom station will be expanded to four bedrooms to match the layout of the city’s newer facilities. City officials said the contractor has 90 days to complete the work once it begins, with the mayor’s office targeting a reopening in June. Officials said the improvements, while not a full rebuild, should restore the station to full service and address the safety issues that forced its closure in the first place.