GAINESVILLE – Gainesville’s oldest fire station will soon be moving to the site of one of Gainesville’s oldest businesses.
“Mom and Dad started it back in June of 1955,” Phil Wofford told the Bill and Joel Morning Show last week. Wofford was speaking of his family’s namesake business, Wofford TV Sales and Service at 1741 Cleveland Highway
That’s about the same time Gainesville Fire Station No. 2 began answering calls from their current location, the triangular parcel of land at the corner of Holly Drive and Piedmont Road.
Wofford was waxing nostalgic as he spoke with Bill and Joel, remembering a time when Gainesville was much different, describing his business as “the last Mom and Pop TV and appliance store in Gainesville.”
“If you look we’re the only one left, and years ago there used to be ten of us around Gainesville,” he said.
Wofford said August 31st will be the last time he leaves the premises. “I’ve unlocked that front door since I guess I was about 18-years-old.”
As to what happens to the property after his departure, Wofford said, “It’s going to be torn down and the City of Gainesville is going to build a new fire station.”
Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said after Tuesday’s city council meeting that Station 2 would be relocating to the property as soon as feasible.
“It’s in dire need of being replaced; it’s older; it’s out- of-date” Lackey said of the one-story brown brick building in one of Gainesville’s most established neighborhoods. “We actually have to special order our fire trucks that go in there because the standard fire truck won’t go in the size of doors that we have there.”
Lackey said the old building also has sewer issues and problems with the foundation.
While the new location of Station 2 is just one mile away as the crow flies (two miles if you drive through the winding neighborhood streets), Lackey says response time to those living in the Holly Drive – Dixon Drive - Piedmont Road area should not be affected.
“That area now will be covered by three stations…they’re central to three of our stations,” Lackey said. “We’re very confident we can supply them with great response times.”
He said the appearance of the new station will be similar to that of Station 3 on Nancy Creek Road. “We’re still working through the design part of that now.”
Lackey said SPLOST VII funds, already approved, will provide just over $3-million for construction, and because it is a relocation of an existing station no additional personnel will need to be hired.
Lackey also credited Wofford with initiating the land transaction. “Actually the owner’s broker approached us about it,” Lackey said. “We had been looking for a site for quite a while and had not been successful…and they approached us about it…and things just fell into place.”
