The Associated Press
ATLANTA — With the threat of a mayoral veto looming, the city council voted Monday to pull Atlanta’s oldest firehouse off the budget chopping block.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin warned Friday that she would reverse the council’s decision, writing in a three-page letter that the city can’t afford to save Fire Station No. 7. Ms. Franklin closed the firehouse last month as part of an effort to dig the city out of a $14 million deficit.
Hundreds of residents opposed the move, and the council voted 13-1 to overturn it.
The measure transfers $1.1 million from other city departments to pay for Station No. 7 for at least another year.
The station had served Atlanta’s historic West End neighborhood since 1910 and was among the busiest in the city, handling more than 2,600 calls per year.
The station is a neighborhood institution, serving as a blood monitoring station for older residents and a place to feed the area’s homeless. The station’s fire engine was also one of the city’s advanced life support units, responding to emergencies ranging from burns to heart attacks to gunshot wounds.