The Gary Common Council has taken initial steps to turn a former school into a new station for the fire department.
The council unanimously voted April 3 to approve a special use variance that rezones the site at 4948 Delaware St. to allow it to be used for a station for the 7th District. Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st, was absent.
The 3.85-acre site houses a 30-foot-high 14,000-square-foot building which will have separate living quarters for male and female firefighters.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, in urging council members to approve the project. Initial work may begin around May 14, with the actual building to be complete and in service by September 2019, she said.
Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, whose home neighborhood includes the Delaware Street site, said she is pleased that there will be a fire station near her home.
Council President Ronald Brewer said people should not presume that parts of Gary were lacking in fire protection services because surrounding communities helped cover those areas.
“I don’t care what part of the city you live in, all are covered by some form of fire protection,” Brewer said.
Sparks-Wade said past fire stations near her neighborhood were closed in budget-cutting moves.
“I cannot wait until they do the groundbreaking,” she said. “I’d like it if it could be finished by the end of the year.”
Money for the project comes from a federal Housing and Urban Development department grant that Gary received a few years ago.
Freeman-Wilson said Fire Chief Paul Bradley was able to scale back the design to meet the budget, using as an example a Lake Ridge fire district station.
“The chief has been a driving force on this project,” the mayor said.
In a separate matter, Freeman-Wilson and Brewer praised deputy police chief Derrick Cannon for completing a 10-week program at the FBI Academy, along with 221 other law enforcement officers from across the United States.
The program is meant to bolster the administrative skills of law enforcement officers. Cannon, a life-long Gary resident, has been with the Gary Police Department at various levels for 19 years.
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Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.