The City of Cleveland heralded a new era of public safety last Friday with the grand opening of a new $3.9 million fire station on Underwood Street, across from Freedom Park, and the acquisition of the fire department’s new $2.1 million ladder truck.
Mayor Josh Turner said the new station was “more than brick and mortar,” adding that the project reflects the city’s growth and commitment to protecting peoples’ lives and property. Turner said Cleveland incurred no debt from the station’s construction and that it was paid for in large part with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax dollars.
Ron Cantrell Construction of Cleveland built the new station. Architect George Hlavenka designed the facility.
Opening ceremonies featured a hose-decoupling instead of a ribbon cutting, and a traditional push-in ceremony for the ladder truck where firefighters manually push the truck into its permanent home.
The push-in ceremony pays tribute to firefighters who, over a century ago, had to unload equipment and unharness horses from horse-drawn fire wagons before pushing the wagon back into the station.
The new 10,500-square foot station has four bays with a ready room, supply room, decontamination room and medical supply room. The business portion has a training room, chief’s office, reception area, day room and kitchen, bunk rooms and bathrooms.
Cleveland’s new 100-ft. ladder truck is a Sutphen Heavy Duty 100’ Mid- Mount Aerial Platform truck. It was paid for with close to $1.5 million in grants and local monies. Interim Fire Chief Bo Medlock said the truck was originally priced at $2.5 million, but the city managed to negotiate a discount. Medlock also thanked Clark McDonald, president of Charles Black Construction Company, for temporarily storing the truck on his property at no cost to the city. The truck arrived slightly ahead of schedule before the station was completed, the interim chief said.