By Kate Moran
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
The Jefferson Parish Council has pushed forward with plans to build two new east bank fire stations, including one to replace the Old Metairie station that sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina.
The two new stations are part of a larger plan to replace outmoded fire department buildings, according to David Saunders, interim director of the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department. Later this year, the council is expected to seek bids for a station on Edwards Avenue that also will include new administrative offices.
For now, the council is proceeding with construction bids for a new Station 14 in Old Metairie and a new Station 16 near Lafreniere Park. Bids would be due by November, and the council plans to chose a contractor in mid-December, according to Deano Bonano, a top aide to Parish President Aaron Broussard.
Firefighters assigned to Station 14 have been nomads since Katrina swamped their home base with four feet of water. They relocated first to Station 11 and have been working since June out of a mobile unit in Wally Pontiff Jr. Playground.
Saunders said the old Station 14 has been demolished, and a new building will be erected on the same spot in the 1700 block of Edinburgh Street. Construction should cost around $2.4 million.
The East Bank Consolidated Fire Department is also replacing Station 16 in the 5200 block of Lafreniere Street in Metairie. The facility was not damaged, but simply dated, and its replacement should cost $1.7 million to $2 million.