THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 24, 1995 TAG: 9510240299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
An architect's report presented to the City Council on Monday discourages officials from trying to reconstruct the city's downtown fire station.
The station, given up for lost about a year ago when it was ruled unsafe to occupy, has too many problems to save, the report from Dove-Knight & Associates said.
Fixing up the station and dropping in prefabricated living quarters could cost about $168,000, the report said. But the deteriorating building holds enough possible surprises to make the estimate unreliable.
``It was discussed that the price could be much greater than this because of the unknowns that still remain,'' interim City Manager Victor Sharpe told the council.
But the report did not satisfy Councilman Lloyd Griffin, one of the officials who recently revived the all-but-forgotten downtown site as an option for the city's second fire station.
Griffin, who made the motion to commission the $4,000 report this month, said that the architects had discussed feasibility for only one of his proposals - fixing the existing structure.
Through Griffin's motion, the council had also asked for cost estimates on tearing down the whole building and putting up a new structure in its place.
Representatives from Dove-Knight are expected at the council's Nov. 6 meeting to answer questions on the report and the city's other fire station options.
The option that this spring was considered the council's choice site for a new station - a piece of city property on Knobbs Creek Drive north of downtown - has proved to be viable. Soil tests on that property show that a station could be built there.
The council held a public hearing and rezoned the Knobbs Creek site for the express purpose of putting the fire station there. But in August, several council members said they wanted to keep the fire station downtown.
As the debate continues, all the city's firefighters remain housed at the Halstead Street station, where 12-person shifts work in quarters built for four.
Also Monday, the council scheduled a special meeting for Thursday to go over its 115-plus applications for city manager. Mayor H. Rick Gardner said last week he hoped the city hires a new manager within 30 days, before two new council members come on board.
But Mayor Pro Tem W.L. ``Pete'' Hooker, who is stepping down from the board in December, said he would consult with his successor, Councilman-elect Zack D. Robertson Jr., before making his choice.
``I'm not gonna leave him here four years picking someone that he don't like,'' Hooker said as a brief debate ensued.
Gardner and Councilman A.C. Robinson Jr. objected to Hooker's plans.
``I have extreme difficulty with this,'' Gardner said. ``Why are we not capable of making decisions?'' by CNB