Bobbitt breaks ground on new Johnsonville Fire Station

JOHNSONVILLE, SC – A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held for Johnsonville Fire Department’s new 10,736-square-foot, four-bay fire station and department headquarters. Bobbitt Design Build is constructing the new station for the department on a seven acre lot at 470 Possum Fork Road in Johnsonville.

The department had outgrown its current three-bay station and headquarters on Broadway Street, creating the need for a new facility. The administrative side of this state-of-the-art station will include a conference room, training/community room, reports room, larger administrative space and offices for the department chief and station chief. Firefighters will have access to all the amenities necessary to provide a comfortable living and working environment, which include a full kitchen, dining and day room, workout room, restroom and shower facilities and individual sleeping quarters.

The apparatus includes four drive-through bays with full glass overhead doors on the front and concrete aprons on either side. The apparatus is comprised of many technical accommodations such as, compressed air lines and power connections for vehicles, gear wash and extractor, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottle fillers, an emergency eyewash station, tool room and many other necessities that are required for the station to best serve the community and respond to emergencies in a timely fashion.

After having gone through a rigorous design-bid process, it was determined that the Johnsonville Fire Department could not build the facility that they had originally dreamed of and the project was put on hold. Contemplating the options, Florence County and Johnsonville Fire Department elected to pursue the design-build method of project delivery. After responding to a request for qualifications, Bobbitt was selected to construct the facility. Bobbitt worked with the department to deliver a facility that met its original vision of a four-bay station, while staying on budget.

“Bobbitt Design Build worked with us throughout the entire design process to get everything we could get into this station for the budget we had to work with,” said administrator Vernon Tanner.

Construction is anticipated to be complete by summer 2016.

About Bobbitt Design Build

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, Bobbitt Design Build is the Carolinas’ largest design build contractor for commercial construction, which provides control of site and architectural design, engineering, permitting and construction services under one roof. The employee-owned company has built more than 3,500 commercial buildings throughout the Carolinas. www.bobbitt.com