“Thank you for coming,” Mayor Jerry Jackson said. “This is a big deal.”
Jackson introduced Chief Marc Lowery. “I want to tell you a story about Chief Marc. When I took office six years ago, four people applied for fire chief. I told the guys I wanted to do something different, so I had the firefighters vote for who they wanted. Marc was chosen with all 24 votes. He has exceeded all my expectations.”
“I appreciate the Mayor’s introduction. He and I have worked great together for the last six years. This mayor and council have a progressive mindset, and we have seen so much growth and so many projects completed, more so than I saw during my first 20 years at the department,” Lowery said.
Lowery gave a little history of the downtown fire station. “Back in the 60’s during the big flood, the original station was flooded. The water line is still visible. Then, in the 70s when the phone company blew up, the fire station had major damage and had to be bolted back together. It’s been a dangerous place to put our firefighters.”
“Fast-forward to the Public Safety Tax the citizens passed in 2014, and we were able to build a new station. This is the next step. We couldn’t move out of the downtown building because we needed coverage in this area. I want to thank the Mayor, the Council, and the citizens. We appreciate your support,” Lowery concluded.
Jackson added, “When we built City Hall, we knew there would be a time we would need to build a new substation. We had to remain within a specific area as we began looking for land. We found some for $200,000. But we didn’t want to spend that much. Then we had the idea to build right here on land we already owned. That saved us a lot of money. Having first responders right here at Creekside Community Center 24/7 was the coolest thing we could think of. Revenue has been good for the last five years, so we said, “Let’s do it. Rhett with Risley Architechs had the plans pretty fast. And Josh Thomason with Butch May Constructing – we want this done as fast as we can. It’s come together pretty fast. Thanks to the council and our wonderful firefighters. Let’s turn some dirt.”
The two-bay building will be 2,700 square feet, able to house four firefighters at a time. For now, only two will be on duty 24/7, but the department wanted to plan for future potential growth.
“The two bays will be filled with one engine and whatever other apparatus is needed,” Lowery said.
The structure will be pre-engineered, with all the beams and individual pieces built to spec and assembled on-site, just like the crew on the new Creekside Gym.
Lowery said, “We’d love to be in there before the first of the year, but I have no idea how long it may take.”
Harrison Fire Station # 2 Creekside Substation will be at 523 South Pine Street.
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