By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
It was a historic day for the City of Mesquite and it was cause for celebration.
A large crowd gathered on Thursday morning, October 4, at the empty lot on Mesquite Blvd. just south of the library branch to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the future Mesquite Fire Station #1.
The new station will be just under 14,000 sq ft in size. It will be able to house a crew of up to eight firefighters. However, when it opens, the department will start with four at the location with room to grow.
All of the firefighting apparatus to be housed in the new station is already in use in Mesquite. No additional staffing will be needed to man the station.
The new facility will replace a aged and dilapidated station currently in use just behind the Mesquite City Hall building.
In some brief remarks, Mesquite Fire Chief Jayson Andrus pointed out that the old building had never been designed specifically as a fire station.
“That building has had a lot of previous lives,” Andrus told the crowd. “It has been a home, a doctor’s office and a children’s day care center before transitioning into a fire station. We have adapted and made do with it for a long time. But this new station will be designed and built for firefighters. That will make a big difference.”
Andrus also pointed out that the new station would also be the site for a state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for the city.
“This will be an important foundational building block for us to prepare for, mitigate and respond to major incidents in our community,” he said.
Andrus added that these types of emergency events are occurring more and more frequently across Nevada and the country. He acknowledged that the City has relationships with numerous mutual aid partners at the county, state and federal level, who stand at the ready to respond to local problems.
“But it would be a mistake for our community to always plan on our mutual aid partners coming to our rescue in every instance,” Andrus said. “I am proud of this community for making Mesquite more independent by moving forward with this project to better be able to respond to emergencies.”
Sean Coulter of Simpson Coulter architectural firm, which did the design work for the new station, reminded the audience that his company had also done the architectural work on the library building right next door.
“We are really excited about this design and we thank the city for allowing us to help designing this facility,” Coulter said. “We have done a lot of work on community-based projects like these.”
Mark Hobaica Vice President of contractor Core Construction spoke, expressed gratitude for the ease of working with Mesquite city staff.
Mayor Al Litman spoke next. He began by reading a certificate of congratulations sent from Nevada Assemblyman Toby Yurek who represents Mesquite at the State Legislature.
Litman went on to express what a special day it was for Mesquite. “Right now you are looking at just a pile of dirt on an empty lot,” he said. “But soon you will see the finest fire station possible. We have the finest fire department and they truly deserve the best that we can give them.”
“Years from now our residents will be thankful for the work we are doing now,” Litman added.
“Mesquite gets the job done and I thank all of you for not only thinking about the future, but doing something about it.”
In an interview with The Progress, Mesquite Public Works Director Travis Anderson said that it was a happy day for him. Anderson was heavily involved, over the past nearly three years, in bringing the project carefully through the contract bid process and design.
“As of today, much of my work is done,” Anderson said. “I get to take a step back, while the construction takes place.”
Anderson added that, by contract, the newstation must be completed by January 2025. “But they expect it will be done sooner than that, if the supply chain does not hold them up getting materials,” he said.
All of Mesquite City Council and city Manager and staff were on stage showing their support.
When it came time for the groundbreaking ceremony, there were no less than fourteen people handling shovels.
Chief Andrus, of course, was awarded the golden shovel after the ceremony.
“It will be displayed in the new station,” he said.
