This is an ongoing blog posting about relocating Raleigh Fire Station 1. See also the  official project site. 

Contents

• Aug 2024 – Design Services Awarded
• Feb 2024 – Site Selected, Project Restarted
• May 2020 – Project on Hold
• Nov 2019 – Conceptual Rendering
• July 2018 – Project Update
• Aug 2017 – Project Update
• May 2016 – Funding for Station Relocation
• Aug 2015 – Station Relocation Objective

August 2024 – Design Services Award

On August 20, 2024, City Council approved a consent agenda that included the formal bid award for design services for new Station 1. 

View agenda item that includes one PDF attachment.

February 2024 – Site Selected, Project Restarted

On February 29, 2024, an RFQ was issued for design services. By that time, the project had also been restarted, with the scope of work expanded to include a back-up emergency communications center in the new facility. The project budget had also been increased to $72M. The site location was also changed, and was originally planned for a city-owned parcel near the Raleigh Convention Center. 

The multi-story facility is planned to include 50,000 square-feet and five apparatus bays. The site is a city-owned, two-acre parent on the northwest corner of South Salisbury Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. The site is also catty corner from old Fire Station 2, which was located in the rear of the performing arts center originally named Memorial Auditorium.  

Fire Station 1 is currently located at 220 S. Dawson Street and opened in 1953. It has two stories, three bays, and 11,200 square-feet. Its two prior locations were 412 S. Salisbury Street at Old Station 2 (1941-53) (built 1914) and the original Headquarters Fire Station at 112 Morgan Street (1912-41). The latter was erected in 1896, for the city’s volunteer fire companies. It opened as Station 1 in 1912, with the creation of the current career organization. 

Headquarters is currently located in the Dillon Building at 310 W. Martin Street. It comprises the Office of the Fire Chief, Office of the Fire Marshal, Office of Safety and Compliance, administrative staff of the Operations Division, and other staff.

The Martin Street space was occupied in 1994. Prior locations for fire administrative offices have included:

• Municipal Building at 222 W. Hargett Street (1984-91)
• Professional Building at 127 W. Hargett Street (1991-94)
• Keeter Training Center (1982-20__)
• Old Station 4 at 2913 Wake Forest Road (1993-97?)
• Fire Station 1 at 220 S. Dawson Street (1953-20_)

The fire department also utilizes office space at the Emergency Communications Center at 2320 Westinghouse Boulevard, for the Emergency Management Division and other staff. 

May 2020 – Project on Hold

Around May 30, 2020, the official project site was updated and noted that the project was on hold indefinitely.  

November 2019 – Conceptual Rendering Continue reading ‘Relocating Fire Station 1 – Design Services Awarded’ »

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from August 20, 2024.

Groundbreaking for new Rocky Mount Fire Station 2 was held on Monday, August 26, 2024. It will replace a 1977 engine house that is located on the same site, at the corner of West Raleigh Boulevard and South Grace Street.

The new station will cost $11M+ and face West Raleigh Boulevard, not Grace Street. Program specifications include:

• Eight Bedrooms with built-in desk
• Storage Room
• Common Area Restroom (entrance from engine room) with separate shower for decon
• Community Bathrooms w/Showers (1 dedicated to female employees)
• Kitchen / Dayroom
• Gym / Workshop
• Community Room/Classroom
• Gear Wash and Decontamination Room for Dryer & Extractor with exterior entrance
• Gear Storage Room
• Laundry
• A method (pole, slide, or steps) to quickly access the engine room from the upstairs mezzanine
• Pantry with cabinets for 3 shifts and room to store 3 shift refrigerators
• Three engine bays total, including two full drive through, double-stacked bays, and one half bay parallel to the Grace Street side with the front facing West Raleigh Blvd. The half-bay will have the gym and workshop located directly behind it.
• Captain/STO Office. 

Continue reading ‘New Rocky Mount Station 2’ »

Morning history. This week we’re digging into the history of Winston-Salem’s engine houses, both older and newer. Found some neat notes about the old Station 2 at 301 S. Liberty Street, which everyone knows as the old Salem Town Hall. It became a Winston-Salem fire station when the cities merged in 1913.

Learned that the building’s cornerstone says 1909, but is incorrect and was added by a stonecutter who guessed at the thing [!]. The correct date is 1912 is listed in official documents, such as the minutes of the Moravian church, the organization that found the settlement of Salem. That explains sundry citations, over the decades, of 1909 as the build date.

Also learned that the building first-served as WSFD Station 4, as cited in both Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and city directories. WSFD Station 2 was located at the old Winston City Hall building. See a prior post about that. WSFD Station 4 was renamed Station 2 in 1919, or so says a Sentinel article from January 1979. City directories from that period corroborate that date. Pretty interesting.

^ One of the original bay doors is also labeled “Rough & Ready Fire Co. No. 4”. At the time of the station’s closure in 1976, the bay doors were larger and squared. They read “Fire Department – Central Station No. 2.” The bay doorways were later restored or rebuilt as smaller and arched. Guessing that was the appearance of those doors when the building was completed.

More Information

Legeros pics of the building from 2005. Need to make a return visit. 

Research notes on historic and former WSFD stations, to be updated with new findings.