by Linda Erbele
White County News
The city of Cleveland will host a grand opening for its new fire station on Friday, Oct. 3 at 11 a.m.
“Instead of a ribbon cutting, we will have a hose-decoupling,” said Kevin Harris, city manager.
The new fire station was built by Ron Cantrell Construction of Cleveland at a cost of $3.9 million. It was paid for with SPLOST proceeds and is located at 84 Underwood St., across from Freedom Park. It has four bays and the total square footage of the building is 10, 507. In the bay portion, there is a ready room, supply room, decontamination room and a medical supply room. The business portion has a training room, chief’s office, reception area, day room and kitchen, bunk rooms and bathrooms.
It is equipped with a new $32,000 extractor and $282,000 worth of new air packs, turnout gear and equipment, all paid for with Assistance to Firefighters Grants.
At the same event, the city will hold a push-in ceremony as it moves its new 100-ft. ladder truck into its permanent home. The $2 million truck, a Sutphen Heavy Duty 100’ Mid-Mount Aerial Platform truck, was purchased with a combination of local funds and almost $1.5 million in grants. Interim Fire Chief Bo Medlock will lead the push-in ceremony.
The public is invited to the festivities and to tour the station. The city has requested that people RSVP to officeassistant@clevelandga.org by 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, so they can have enough food.