Hurricane protection part of plan
By B.C. Manion
The city of Zephyrhills’ Fire Rescue Station No. 2 will be undergoing a transformation in the coming year.
“We have a federal grant to remodel and upgrade the station,” said Jim Drumm, city manager.
The city of Zephyrhills has $750,000 in federal money and has put up about $230,000 of its own funds to pay for the changes that will make the building more attractive and provide protection from hurricane-force winds, Drumm said.
“This is in engineering right now. I think they’re going to start working on it in probably early March,” Drumm said.
“Since it’s in the historic district, we’re going to give this building a more historic character. It’s going to really dress the building up,” he continued.
Part of the design calls for adding brick to the station’s tower and adding windows to give the building a more historic feel.
A garage bay at the fire station will be converted into offices, Drumm said.
The fire station was built in 1960 and has been dubbed “The Outhouse” or “The Dungeon,” according to the city’s website. Originally, it was Station No. 1, but it was renamed after the city built a new station, the website states.
Station No. 2 has experienced numerous repairs, renovations and additions through the years.
It was vacated on Jan. 23, 2008, when flooding occurred. Firefighters were temporarily housed at the World War II barracks at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport until it re-opened April 15, 2010.
Repairs to the building, mostly made by city employees, included pulling down drywall and insulation and making other repairs.
Drumm is looking forward to the building’s facelift.
“It’s an exciting project,” Drumm said. “It’s going to give a nice look to one of the uglier buildings downtown, which just happened to be owned by us.”
