Greenville City Council member disputes prioritization of fire station improvements

Greenville Fire Station 4 on West Stone Avenue still retains its postwar 1950s character, complete with subway tiles in the bay and its original fire pole.

But just as the building's age adds unique charm, it adds problems, too. The doors are too short for some modern fire trucks to fit through. The building has only one exit. It lies in a floodway, and at times, fills with water. As much as three feet was reported during a 2018 summer storm.

Tucked on half an acre of land at the corner of East Park and West Stone avenues, Station 4 is due for replacement.

The two-story, red brick building is next on the city's list to be rebuilt. City Council is considering spending $1 million from the Capital Improvement Projects budget on fire station improvements in the fiscal year 2024, according to budget talks Monday. They've funded $1.9 million in fire station improvements to date.

But which stations will see repairs — and when — is still up for discussion by City Council. District 2 representative Lillian Brock Flemming said repairs have been pushed back for the fire station in her district, the West End station at 125 North Leach Street, and that facility should be prioritized.

"It is the oldest and in the worst shape," Flemming said Monday. "All I'm saying is, it's been patched up and it's always the next one ... I'm saying it's always behind somebody else. That's got to stop, folks."

City plans to replace Stone Avenue station, build new station by Downtown Airport next

The city is planning to rebuild the Stone Avenue station, then replace Station 5 on North Pleasantburg Drive, building a new station by the Downtown Airport to accommodate the area's growth.

The city uses mapping software to objectively determine each neighborhood's fire service needs, City Manager John McDonough said Monday.

"As the city grows its boundaries right now, we're in the process of evaluating where new stations may go," McDonough said. "As we look at renovating existing stations, it may be an opportunity to close that (West End) station and move it into a more advantageous geographical location for response time."

The fire department operates seven fire stations throughout the city. From those locations, they manage more than 17 pieces of fire-fighting equipment and respond to more than 13,000 calls for service annually, according to the city's website.

"We don't just put a station anywhere. It's about responses, it's about call volume, it's about population, it's about density, it's about travel time," Fire Chief Brian Horton said. "It's not just looking at this station, but all other stations as well."

The city also has mutual-aid agreements with fire departments in special service districts outside city limits, meaning the departments assist one another as needed. Those agreements are key to covering Greenville, which is growing rapidly as the city's borders shift to include a flood of recent annexations.

The city has planned to replace the Stone Avenue fire station for years, a project estimated to cost $7 million, Horton said. The city has renovated it over the years, including adding an air-conditioning system, although the old station is difficult to renovate extensively because of flood restrictions, he said.

The new site is planned to be just up the hill and behind the station, moving it out of the reach of floodwaters. The move would also relocate the station further from the busy intersection, which sometimes fills with traffic and blocks in firefighters when they are responding to calls.

Station 4 handled 2,687 calls for service in 2022 and has handled 815, so far, this year.

The West End fire station across town was built in the 1970s, Mayor Knox White said. The city replaced the station's roof in 2017, and in 2019 the station got new duct work, paint and new plumbing, as did Station 5, Horton said. The city has spent an estimated $250,000 each to renovate those two stations.

Station 2's crew handled 2,893 calls in 2023 and 1,061 calls, so far, this year.

City of Greenville tax increase funded new fire station on Verdae in 2014

To meet fire needs in the Verdae area, in 2014 officials approved a four-mill tax hike from 85.4 mills to 89.4 mills to build Station 1 on Verdae Boulevard. It was Greenville's first tax increase in 21 years.

Seven years later, the city built a new fire station at the corner of Augusta and Faris roads to replace the historic Augusta Road station. The new 12,000-square-foot station cost almost $5 million and included better infrastructure and technology, former Fire Chief Stephen Kovalcik said. The old station, which was built in the 1940s, is now the district offices and a store for Sherwin-Williams.

The city has been budgeting for fire service improvements since the early 2000s, meaning current councilmembers "inherited" the current prioritization list, councilmember at-large Dorothy Dowe said Monday.

Officials and city staff will hold another work session to discuss how the fire stations have been identified for upgrades, McDonough said. City Council will vote on the budget that includes funds for capital improvements before the end of the fiscal year June 30.

Flemming said she wanted to see more resources go to the West End station.

"You should always not build something brand new when you've got somebody else waiting out here with an old, abandoned fire station, basically," Flemming said. "All I'm saying is that it (West End) should be the next one. It shouldn't be No. 3, it should be No. 1."

Macon Atkinson is the city watchdog reporter for The Greenville News. She's powered by long runs and strong coffee. Follow her on Twitter @maconatkinson.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville City Council disputes fire station upgrades, spending