By Jackie Martin
The News Herald
It was a day many had been waiting for, and it brought out a number of local officials to celebrate the occasion.
The Taylor Fire Department has officially rededicated Fire Station No. 2.
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A recent rededication ceremony marked a new beginning for the department’s service and completes a $2M project renovating two of the three Taylor fire stations over the past year.
Fire Station No. 2, the larger of the two, is located at 25303 Ecorse Road.
Mayor Tim Woolley was among a large group attending the grand re-opening.
He was joined by Fire Chief Stephen Portis and Deputy Chief Al Young, along with Gerald Thomas and Rhonda Danaj who represented the Taylor Tax Increment Finance Authority .
TIFA was a major driving force behind the project. Also in attendance at the ribbon cutting were firefighters and other city employees.
Portis has been working on this plan since 1990.
He remembers Station No. 3 on Eureka Road opened when he started.
Station No. 2 had opened about eight years before.
At that time, Station 3 was the bigger and newer one. Station No. 2 was the smaller, older and homier one.
“Eventually, Fire Station 2 was expanded and is now the bigger of the two,” Portis said. “The good thing is that with all of these new renovations, which were badly needed, you are just proud to see the growth within the overall department. Unlike other professions, firefighters live and work in their stations.
The fire station is a second home for firefighters, so when renovations were made to Fire Station No. 2, some pretty nice improvements were made to the common area. (Photo courtesy of the city of Taylor )
“They dispatch from their buildings, but they eat and sleep there, too. It’s really important that they have a quality building in which to work. It helps put them in the proper frame of mind.
The fire chief said now that the renovations to Stations No. 2 and 3 are done, the focus will shift to the midtown station at 23345 Goddard Road.
“Renovations will not be as vast as these were, but we’ll need to look at some new flooring and paint,” he said. “It’s very important to stay ahead of these types of maintenance issues.”
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