Keith Epps
The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
(TNS)
Jul. 11—So far there’s only a sign.
But eventually, Fredericksburg officials hope, the city will have a new fire station at Snowden Park in the area of Fall Hill Avenue and Wicklow Drive.
City Council has committed to building the city’s third fire station as a means to provide faster and more efficient protection for the city. A sign was erected Tuesday as a symbol of the city’s commitment to construct the new facility.
“Seconds matter in a life-threatening emergency and response times are the most accurate predictor of outcomes,” veteran Fire Chief Mike Jones said. “Enhanced coverage with this third station provides fire and EMS delivery that is critical for our city and supports our department’s goal to provide national best practice standards of coverage.”
The city’s oldest fire station is at 601 Princess Anne St. in the downtown area, while its second station is on Altoona Drive off Plank Road.
City spokeswoman Sonja Cantu said the planned third station will provide better service to areas that are farthest from the existing stations, such as Celebrate Virginia South and Mary Washington Hospital. It will enable better access to Interstate 95 at the new emergency access point just completed, in partnership with Virginia Department of Transportation and the Silver Companies, behind the Virginia Visitor Center.
The new facility won’t appear anytime soon. Jones said the city hopes to begin consulting with prospective designers by early September and he estimated it will take at least a year before the first shovel of dirt is actually moved.
The proposals will also give city officials a better idea of the cost of the facility.
“But the good news is that we’re moving ahead, and this will be a great thing for the city,” Jones said.
The preliminary plans call for the eventual relocation of the baseball field at Snowden Park while preserving the community garden and playground in their current locations, Cantu said.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
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Press release on the City of Fredericksburg Web site:
Fredericksburg City Council and the Fredericksburg Fire Department unveiled a new sign that marks the location of the planned new Fire and Rescue Station No. 3 on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
City Council unanimously voted on June 25, 2024 on a zoning amendment that enables the City to locate the new Fire Station No. 3 at Snowden Park. After an exhaustive evaluation of locations, this site was determined to best support the City’s expansion of public safety services. A third station at Snowden Park, located at Fall Hill Avenue and Wicklow Drive, just east of Interstate 95, will provide reduced response times to an area that is most distant from the other two stations and identified for experiencing future development within the next several years. This location will also provide better service to high hazard areas of Celebrate Virginia South and Mary Washington Hospital Campus, as well as provide both resiliency and redundancy to back up the two existing stations anywhere in the City. Lastly, this new station will enable responders to more quickly access Interstate 95 at the new emergency access infrastructure just completed, in partnership with VDOT and the Silver Companies, behind the Virginia Visitor Center.
“What began as a dream and vision has moved forward from that vision to a plan to make this dream a reality,” state Fire Chief Mike Jones, a 40 year veteran with the City of Fredericksburg. “Seconds matter in a life-threatening emergency and response times are the most accurate predictor of outcomes. Enhanced coverage with this third station provides fire and EMS delivery that is critical for our city and supports our department’s goal to provide national best practice standards of coverage.”
Next steps will include design and engineering, which is expected to occur in FY2025. Plans call for the potential of relocating the baseball field, while preserving the community garden and playground in their existing location. Public engagement with surrounding neighborhoods began this past February and will continue throughout the project.
