Fire department could move
into renovated space
By Angela H. Hill
The Stuart Town Council announced at its Oct. 19 meeting that it plans to purchase the former Food Lion on Wood Brothers Drive, converting the building into a new home for the 28-member Stuart Volunteer Fire Department.
This summer, HopCo LLC offered the building to Stuart officials for $1.2 million. The building’s tax assessment is $2.4 million. Previous plans to build a new fire department on town-owned property on Commerce Street would have run $2.5 million, and taken up to 10 years to complete.
“This will really fit our needs for the fire department,” explained Stuart Town Manager Terry Tilley. “There’s room to expand … [The new building] would have been about one-third the size of the Food Lion building, so we’re purchasing a lot more square footage for a better price.”
The Stuart Fire Department is currently under the town’s administration office on Patrick Avenue. Chris Corbett, Stuart town attorney and a firefighter for 35 years, said the current location is geographically ideal, but the department needs more room for the medical supplies and equipment used by first-responders.
A secondary benefit to moving the fire department, Corbett added, is that the town maintenance department’s shop—which also needs more space—can move into the space under the town office. That saves the town at least $100,000 Corbett said.
Tilley said the town council will host a public hearing on the former Food Lion building at its next meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the town office. Town officials hope to purchase the former building by the end of 2016 so they can begin renovations as soon as possible.
For starters, three bay doors need to be installed and the 4-inch concrete that was fine for shopping carts must be replaced with thicker concrete to handle the weight of fire trucks. The new station will also need a turnout gear room, a mechanical room, offices, a kitchen, and possibly a conference room.
The floor plans are still in the works and subject to the project’s funding, Tilley said. “There’s room to expand. We won’t finish all of it at the beginning.”
Corbett added that town officials are grateful for the generosity of HopCo LLC principals John W. Hopkins and John W. Hopkins Jr., both of Hopkins Lumber, in offering Stuart the building at such a reduced price.
