By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Crews will begin survey work this week at the Homestead Road site for the town’s new fire station in preparation for the start of construction.
Carrboro Fire-Rescue Department Chief Travis Crabtree said the first order of business will be to define areas for tree-protection fencing. Protecting some of the larger trees on the site — including a 200-year-old holly tree near Homestead Road — was one of the key topics of interest as the town was crafting a plan for building the station.
Crabtree said the fencing and other measures to protect the trees have to be in place before grading and construction can start.
“Everything is being built on that idea,†he said. “We’re going to protect [the holly tree] to the best of all our abilities.â€
Crabtree said he was excited to see the project get started. The town has been building up its firefighter staff, with nine of the 12 firefighters who will staff the new station around the clock already hired and being trained. Construction should take about 300 days from the official start date of July 20 to complete, Crabtree said.
Having a new station and a new home for Engine 932, which the town purchased in 2006, will ease crowding at the town’s Main Street station.
The new station, which will be built by Central Builders of Mebane, will mainly provide fire-protection services for northern Carrboro, including Lake Hogan Farms, Wexford, Claremont, Winmore and Rogers Road.
The station will also include work space for the Carrboro Police Department and Orange County Emergency Medical Services and a small community meeting room that can seat about 15 people, Crabtree said.
The first major town project since 1981, the station includes a number of green features, such as a gray-water retention and filtering system, high-efficiency lighting, extensive use of daylight and waterless urinals.