Charleston City Council approved Monday paying about $1.1 million to replace a fire station that was located just off Corridor G before structural issues forced the relocation of the firefighters there.
Council members, in a voice vote, awarded the construction contract to Wolf Creek Contracting Company, the lowest of four bidders, according to documents provided at Monday's meeting.
Charleston Fire Chief Scott Shaffer said the station will serve the Corridor G, Fort Hill, Southridge and downtown areas. Robert Sutler, assistant fire chief over operations, said it'll be on the same lot as the now-demolished former station, at 822 Oakwood Road, off Corridor G near Fruth Pharmacy.
The city demolished the old station, which stood for more than 75 years, in July 2016.
"We're excited to get the station back up there in the neighborhood," Shaffer said.
He said it's a safety need.
Shaffer said the station was effectively vacated a little more than a year ago. It moved into the Charleston Fire Department Training Center at 115 Lee St. W.
He said the training center basically "consists of a couple of classrooms." Counting the training center, he said the city has eight fire stations.
Lombardi Development Company had the next lowest bid, at $1,271,600, compared to Wolf Creek's $1,097,000. West Virginia- and Ohio-based Wolf Creek also said it could finish the base work in 180 days, compared to the 240 to 270 days the other bidders proposed.
City Manager David Molgaard said he would like to think there will be an engine company occupying the station within 220 days, following some work on the upstairs living quarters. He said the station also can house an ambulance company.
He said he didn't know the extent of the structural issues with the former station. He said there were cracks in the foundation and issues with the floor.
"We actually had some scaffolding and were shoring it up in the basement until such time as our city engineer no longer felt it was appropriate to keep our firetrucks there because of structural issues," Molgaard said.
He said the floor could have possibly collapsed.
"We actually spent quite a bit of time looking for an alternate site, simply because the existing site is very constrained, and we thought we had identified a couple but after further investigation we determined that at the end of the day this was the best site," Molgaard said.
He said there's a possibility that the city will purchase property next door "at some future time, which will allow us to have a little bit of room for expansion," mostly parking.
Also Monday, council:
n Recognized Gary Taylor, who's retiring as the public works director next week after 46 years of service with the city in various roles.
n Set trick-or-treat hours for 6-8 p.m. Oct. 31.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.