Lynchburg Fire Department’s Station 6 at Miller Park is up and running again after about 11 months and $815,000 worth of renovations.
Battalion Chief of Training Jonathan Wright said the station’s fire pole — the last one in Lynchburg — will be getting some use again when firefighters respond to calls starting Wednesday. A total of 18 personnel working different shifts will be working from Station 6.
The station was built in 1912, and firefighters said the last major renovation to the building was done in the late ’80s. Compared to the other seven Lynchburg stations, Wright said Station 6 is the oldest but now has the most contemporary equipment and furnishings. “Preserving this history, I think, is really important. And it’s an icon in the community,” he said.
As they hauled furniture up to the second floor — which has an entirely new layout from before — firefighters who once worked out of Station 6 recalled when there was no central air system or when they’d haul their own furniture to and from the station.
The newly finished third floor once was a dusty storage area with a number of old firefighting artifacts from the station’s earlier days. Many of those pieces will be part of a future exhibit at the Lynchburg Museum.
Rod Smith worked with the Lynchburg Fire Department for more than 32 years and fought his first fire out of Station 6 years ago. He and Wright took out the antiques, including old nozzles, old rubber coats and gear, a 16-foot wooden roof ladder and other equipment from old fire engines dating back to 1913.
“Why they stored and kept that stuff I don’t know, but I’m glad they did,” he said.
Smith took on his own renovation project with the station’s benches, which have been the dining seats and resting spots for firefighters throughout the years.
“I’ve had a lot a guys say that they’ve caught many a nap on those benches,” he said.
Now the third floor is easily accessible by a new, sturdier flight of concrete steps. Firefighters now have an additional 2,500 square feet of training space and an improved exercise room under the building’s original wooden ceiling.
Scott Glass, Lynchburg’s facilities manager, said upgrades to the building’s mechanical, electric and plumbing systems made up a significant portion of the project. A historical architect by trade, he said renovations of such old buildings usually try to keep as many original elements of the building as possible.
“If you don’t have to mess with it, it’s good not to,” he said.
Firefighters from Station 6 began leaving the station to work from Station 1 on Clay Street and Station 2 on Grace Street in November 2015, and work on the building began in January of this year. Renovation work was estimated to end by September, but the building’s age meant there were a few stumbling blocks along the way, according to Glass.
“We’re a couple of months behind where we would’ve liked to have been, but I’m not surprised,” he said.
Change orders added to the project’s price tag, bringing it from $795,384 to about $815,000.
Lynchburg Fire Chief Steven Ferguson said Station 6 has been iconic within the department and is unique with its three floors.
“It was important for us to maintain the look of the old station. That station happened to be at one time … one of our busiest stations,” he said, adding it may take back that title.
Other Lynchburg fire stations in league with Station 6 in age no longer are in use. Ferguson said building a new facility would’ve been expensive, and the existing station has been an anchor in the community in an ideal, central location.
“I think with a lot of downtown renovations … we’ve become much more aware of maintaining our historic buildings,” he said. “I think it’s been kind of a pretty neat project.”
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