The city broke ground this morning on another new fire station north of the Bay, and architect Mark Williams says passersby will see a familiar site when the station begins coming out of the ground over the next several months.
That’s because Station 10, which is on Old Highway 67 east of Cedar Lake Road, will bear a striking resemblance to two other fire stations: Station 2 East End and Station 9 Eagle Point. Both were built in 2004.
“The city began doing something several years ago, and Mayor Gilich has seen the benefit of it and has continued it,” Williams said. “We have uniformity among the new fire stations. The design is basically the same, which is great for the firefighters. The know the layout of the station, regardless of where they are posted. The path from the dayroom to the engine bay is the same, which can save vital time in an emergency response.
“Additionally, having a similar floor plan helps tremendously on maintenance, which saves the money.”
Williams, who has had a hand in design or refurbishment of each of the city’s fire stations, joined the mayor, members of the City Council, firefighters and contractors for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Highway 67 site. The $2 million station is expected to be complete in about nine months.
This station is expected to dramatically increase response times in the east Woolmarket area. Currently, the fire department has a four-minute-and-36-second average response time citywide, but the response time for Station 8 on Woolmarket Road is a minute higher, and three minutes higher when assisting in calls outside the city limits.”
The architect and city leaders gathered only weeks ago for a groundbreaking for another station, Station 7, on Popp’s Ferry Road, east of Cedar Lake. That station, a larger, battalion-size operation, is expected to be completed in about a year.
See photos from the groundbreaking of Station 10
Here more about Station 10 from Fire Chief Boney
See photos from the groundbreaking of Station 7
See more about the Biloxi Fire Department
News & notes: Weekend preview, City Desk, water payments, Guns N’ Hoses softball
Weekend preview: The Classic Gun and Knife Show will be at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, and the Biloxi Shuckers play the Mobile BayBears and the Pensacola Wahoos at MGM Park. Over at the casinos, Tracy Morgan and Urban Cowboy Union will each be at the IP Casino, Purple Reign will be at the Hard Rock, and Terry Factor will be at the Beau Rivage. To see the Biloxi Community Calendar, click here. To see a complete listing of happenings, click here.
City Desk: Architect Mark Williams talks about the new fire stations and CAO Mike Leonard tells us about the city’s quest to bring the remains of a war hero home in this week’s installment of the City Desk podcast. To listen to the podcast, click here.
Online payments: City water customers who use Xpress online pay for their monthly water and garbage bill may have noticed a glitch or two in the system the last day or two. The city and the vendor are working to improve consistency of the system.
Hoses to for the win: The Biloxi Shuckers hosted a Guns N’ Hoses Inaugural Softball Championships at MGM Park Thursday afternoon. The friendly competition between police officers and firefighters was called early because of the rain but “Hoses” took the win beating the “Guns” 11 to 2. To see a photo of the Biloxi Firefighters with the championship trophy, click here.
