Community Invited to Celebrate Grand Opening of Fire Station No. 5 Friday, June 3, 2016
A grand opening and dedication ceremony for Fire Station No. 5 will be held Friday, June 3.
The community is invited to help the City of Arlington celebrate the opening of Fire Station No. 5 this Friday, June 3, 2016.
A grand opening and dedication ceremony is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the station, located at 2921 E. Randol Mill Road in the Great Southwest Industrial District.
The new 10,036-square-foot brick and stone building is more than 2.5 times larger than the former Fire Station No. 5, which opened in 1963.
The 3,754-square-foot station was originally built to provide protection for the rapidly growing Great Southwest Industrial Park, which at the time was one of the largest industrial parks of its kind in the country. About 25 years after the station opened, the Arlington Fire Department created and stationed its first Hazardous Materials Response Team there. The station will memorialize Fire Captain Ronnie McAndrew, who died in the line of duty on Nov. 14, 1990.
Fire Station No. 5 was originally built in 1963 to provide protection for the rapidly growing Great Southwest Industrial Park. That building was demolished in 2015 to make way for a larger, more modern fire station.
As entertainment venues have increased in the American Dream City, responsibilities for the crews at Fire Station No. 5 have also grown over the years. The new station is now also home to the Arlington Fire Department's Office of Special Events (OSE), which works closely with the Police Department and Public Works/Transportation engineers to provide for all the public safety management, planning and resources for homeland security or large special events in the city.
"The new station is able to house more crew members, vehicles and types of equipment," Assistant Fire Chief Jim Self said. "Having more resources at Fire Station No. 5 enhances the City's response capabilities and better protects the community from fire and related hazards."
Fire Station No. 5 has attained LEED status (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) through the Green Building Certification Institute.
Station No. 5 handles more than 2,000 calls for service a year. The OSE units responded to more than 1,100 calls for service at special events and managed 352 large events in 2015. That includes concerts, games and other major events in the Entertainment District, which draws about 10 million visitors a year and is home to AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Park in Arlington and Six Flags Over Texas.
Fire Station No. 5 has attained LEED status (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) through the Green Building Certification Institute. Construction costs for the $3.4 million station, designed by a team of city officials and RPGA Design Group, Inc. and built by Steele & Freeman, were funded by the 2008 bond election.
The new station has three drive-through bays, a fitness room, sleeping quarters and a kitchen, offices and extra storage spaces.
The original Fire Station No. 5 was closed and demolished in early 2015.
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