Galveston Fire Station No. 5 At 5728 Ball St.

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Crews start work on new fire station

By Leigh Jones

The Daily News Published October 1, 2009

GALVESTON — Construction crews have begun preparing the site for the city’s new fire station, moving forward on a project first announced almost two years ago.

The building, next to the Galveston County Justice Center, will replace Station 5, which was at the corner of 56th Street and Avenue K before Hurricane Ike. It also will house the county’s EMS station now at 50th Street and Avenue Q1/2.

Crews were ready to begin work when Ike blew through, disrupting almost all the city’s normal operations for about a year.

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Work on the 11,000-square-foot building, which will have six vehicle bays and 4,000 square feet of living space, should be finished by late April, Maxwell said. The building’s walls will start going up within a month, he said.

Although the city is funding the construction, the building will belong to the county once it’s done.

County Judge Jim Yarbrough offered his management department for the job as a way to save money on the project.

After fire crews move in, the city will reimburse the county for utilities, as it does for the parts of the justice center that house the police department and the municipal court.

The fire station will be added to the long-term lease the city already has with the county.

City officials started talking about building a new fire station in 2007. Station 5 was too small to house modern fire engines, and the 54-year-old building had structural problems that weren’t worth fixing, officials said at the time.

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