By Joe Potter
Laker Correspondent
The fire station on Sixth Avenue in Zephyrhills reopened with little fanfare on April 15, slightly more than 800 days after it was rendered unusable by a flood in January 2008.
For the past 116 weeks, personnel and equipment from Zephyrhills Fire Rescue Station 2 had been operating out of the World War II Barracks Museum at Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. The museum was vacated April 16 after firefighters and paramedics had returned to the downtown station.
City workers did the lion’s share of the remodeling of station 2, said Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina. The city acted as general contractor on the project. The work was finished earlier than anticipated and under budget, according to Spina.
A Grand Opening for the revamped station 2 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. April 26.
The interior of the fire station was gutted and redesigned. This resulted in a more functional and comfortable environment for personnel, Spina said.
A new sprinkler system was installed in the building at a cost of $51,000. Also, the station’s electrical system was brought up to current code and a new air conditioning unit was installed.
This is the first of two planned phases of work on Fire Station 2. The second phase will include converting three bays on the west end of the building into office space, which is currently used for storage.
Zephyrhills has applied for a Community Development Block Grant that could help fund the second phase, Spina said.
