THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120258
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The City Council will hold a public hearing today on whether to spend $6.2 million to relocate Fire Station No. 1 so it won't be in the way of the $300 million MacArthur Center Mall.
The possible relocation of the 20-year-old fire station near City Hall Avenue and St. Paul's Boulevard has become a touchstone for critics of the mall.
At town meetings last week, some speakers said the city should have always included the $6.2 million necessary to move the fire station in the $97 million the council approved to contribute to the mall's cost.
But city officials say the station needs to be moved regardless, that the coming of the mall is only accelerating that decision. Traffic is too heavy around the intersection, the bays are too small, and training facilities are cramped and inadequate.
Now, the Fire Department has central administration, training facilities and operations in the building and on its grounds.
Under the proposed plan, the city would move fire operations to a new station at St. Paul's Boulevard and Wood Street, fire training to an expanded facility on Thole Street, and fire administration to downtown office space.
The need to expand training facilities has been particularly needed since the merger of the fire and paramedical departments in 1991, said city officials.
The vote may be close.
Councilmen Herbert Collins, Randy Wright and Paul R. Riddick may vote against the relocation, Collins said in an interview Monday. These three were elected under the ward system and have less allegiance to the mall, Collins said.
Collins said he supports the mall but said the city has not played fair with citizens by bringing the proposed expenditure up suddenly and outside the normal capital improvement budget process last spring.
``We have to learn to play by the rules,'' Collins said. ``Right now, I don't see how I can support it.''
The relocation could still pass on a 4-3 vote if Mayor Paul D. Fraim and Councilmen Joseph N. Green, Mason C. Andrews and Conoly Phillips support the expenditure.
Under the present design of the mall, the multi-story parking garages for the luxury Nordstrom department store would sit where the fire station now stands.
At a council meeting this month, Andrews said the decision to move the fire station was not made until Dillard's department store was signed as an anchor. The store wanted design changes that required the fire station to be moved, Andrews said. by CNB