Officials Cut Ribbon on New Fire Station

Henry County District IV Commissioner Reid Bowman, surrounded by County and city of Stockbridge officials and others, cuts the ribbon opening Fire Station Number Nine, located on Rock Quarry Road in Stockbridge.

The Henry County Fire Department, along with the Henry County Board of Commissioners and other county and city of Stockbridge officials, celebrated the official opening of Fire Station Number Nine with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony and plaque unveiling on Wednesday morning. 
The station previously located at 132 Berry Street is now located at 122 Rock Quarry Road in Stockbridge.  The new facility replaces a thirty-year old metal building that was originally used to house a volunteer fire department. The Engine and Ambulance from the old station moved over, as well as the North Battalion Officer, previously located at Station Number Three on Highway 42 North in Stockbridge. The land to build the new station was donated by Vulcan Materials Company to the city of Stockbridge, who in turn, donated it to the County for the purpose of building this station.
The budget for the new 9,396 square feet facility is $1,807,415. This is just $400,000 more than we paid for Fire Station No. 7, dedicated in July, 2006. The new facility houses three bays, sleeping quarters, a fully equipped kitchen, laundry room, a common living area, a fitness room and staff offices. According to Henry County Fire Chief Bill Lacy, the new station is designed and constructed to be more conducive for a firefighter’s schedule, with sleeping quarters and living quarters on opposite sides of the building.
Lacy also said the new fire station is a huge benefit to citizens as it is able to accommodate more personnel and apparatus.
“This station is a replacement station for an existing station that was developed when volunteers ran the Stockbridge Fire Department, so it was never designed as a station that was lived in on a 24 hour basis. As our County has grown and we have added additional personnel and units to that station, it became necessary for us to move to a larger facility. This facility will allow us to move apparatus from other places in the County and sort of redistribute our operational resources to better serve the citizens of Henry County,” said Lacy.
District IV Commissioner Reid Bowman said that the project would not have been possible without SPLOST funds.
“This station is a SPLOST III capital project that we were able to do because of the one percent sales tax that was passed by the citizens, and it’s not just Henry County citizens. There were over four million people who came through Tanger Mall and I’m sure when we add all that one percent up, it’s an awful lot of money. There were also a lot of people who stayed in our hotels and ate in our restaurants while passing through to Florida or wherever. Having this interstate system through Henry County is a big blessing when it comes to having a SPLOST project, so there are things that worked out real well for our citizens,” said Bowman. “This station is a state-of-the-art station and we got together with the city and worked with them very closely to secure property and be able to build this particular project. And because of its proximity to the north end of the County and the fact that there’s so much population up this way, we can cover a lot. So it’s just wonderful that we were able to do this.”
Architect for Fire Station No. 9 was Bill Howell with the Howell Group, Inc., located in Marietta, and the contractor was The Potts Company from Conyers, GA.
For more information on the Henry County Fire Department, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/fire.

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