New Roanoke fire/EMS headquarters

[electricmonk]

Found this online the other day. It's planned for the vacant NE lot at the intersection of Elm and Franklin. Not the most groundbreaking design but for a public works project it's ok.

And of course this being Roanoke there are already people lining up to fight the project. The plan is to close two old stations and consolidate them into this one and one of the old ones is the oldest working station in the state. After the move it's supposed to be turned into a museum but of course that's not good enough for some people. They want to keep it as a working station but it fronts onto a narrow city street and it seems to me the new location would provide much quicker responce time being at a wide 4 way intersection.

[StevenRocks]

I used to work for the firm that did the planning for that site. We lost on the building design to a firm from Ohio with more fire station experience. I'd like to think we would have done something somewhat different than the design pictured, but it's decent overall.

[rusthebuss]

That is a very cool design and should add some flavor to the city

[soloextreme]

not to bump an old thread, but is this still in the mix?

[electricmonk]

Haven't heard any thing new about it so I'll assume it is.

[FireFleitz]

Haven't heard any thing new about it so I'll assume it is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We shall find out on Tuesday at City Council. None of the downtown businesses or firefighters want the Current Fire Station #1 Closed down. You can check out Roanoke Fire Fighters Associationor Roanoke FireFightersfor more information. You just can't replace a Fire Station like this. There is not one reason to. That is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

[rusthebuss]

We shall find out on Tuesday at City Council. None of the downtown businesses or firefighters want the Current  Fire Station #1 Closed down. You can check out Roanoke Fire Fighters Associationor Roanoke FireFightersfor more information. You just can't replace a Fire Station like this. There is not one reason to. That is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you a firefighter there?

[FireFleitz]

Are you a firefighter there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes I am...

[rusthebuss]

Yes I am...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Besides your name I figured you where with the passion you have for saving that station! Do you serve at that station?

[wrldcoupe4]

that's a beautiful fire station!

[weill]

Construction has started....they are laying the foundation now...my sister said there used to be a punk club where its being constructed.

[electricmonk]

There was a dive bar called The Pub and Co they had a few punk shows but wasn't really a punk club.

The pic was a bit too much for this forum so this posting has been edited for content.

[weill]

lol, thats awesome where did you find that?

[electricmonk]

From my personal collection. I have hundreds of fliers from punk shows in Roanoke.

[weill]

sweet man

[FireFleitz]

Hey there, nice site electricmonk. I thought that maybe if you guys are interested and hadn't seen it yet you might check out www.roanoke-found.blogspot.com which is the blog for the site http://members.cox.net/forgotten-roanoke/enter.html. You might have seen these before, I am not sure. Anyways the punk stuff is interesting.

Relating to this post: next time you drive by the hole that will soon be the new fire station. Take a close look at the sign which says Future Sight of the Roanoke Fire-EMS Headquarters. If you look real close, someone has added a little sticker of their own. Pretty funny if you ask me.

FireFleitz

www.roanokefirefighters.blogspot.com

[weill]

what does the sticker say?

[FireFleitz]

You will have to check it out yourself. I cannot repeat what it says being that I am a City employee. I would rather not have that on a forum

[weill]

lol ok well i will check it on sometime soon

[weill]

ok so here is a Update for yall

[StevenRocks]

I'm glad to brag that I was part of the orignial site planning

[weill]

so you helped bring it there?

[StevenRocks]

Yeah, my boss and I helped do some of the inital planning for the city on that site. Some elements have changed because ultimately we did not design the building, but what you see is partially mine

[weill]

It sounds like you deserve some part of the Key To The City. What does the statement, Keep Fire Station #1 Move Darlene out mean?

[StevenRocks]

It's a reflection of the chauvanist nature of Roanoke. Most of the big descision making is made by middle-aged men who've been with the city forever, but since Darlen Burcham is the City Manager and a strong woman, she gets blamed for anything people don't like.

Fact is, however historic, Fire Station #1 is outmoded. The city decided to modernize its fire stations, and there's not a good way to modernize Fire Station #1, so the city decided to close it and move to the Franklin Rd. site.

That building downtown would make a great fire and rescue museum or meeting space, but it's been caught up in the same web of nostalgia which has left Victory Stadium in limbo. To do everything that needs to be done to upgrade it would cost a fortune, but the public thinks that a couple coats of paint will do, which leads to the standoff.