Groundbreaking for new fire station in Port Acres could take place in the coming months – Port Arthur News

Construction of a new, more centralized fire station for the Port Acres area is moving forward with the recent approval of a construction company.

The Port Arthur City Council has approved a contract with Beaumont-based G&G Enterprises to build the new Station No. 3.

The price of the station is approximately $9.2 million. The city contracted with Brown Watford Reynolds, BRW, to provide architectural, design and construction management services for the replacement of Fire Station No. 3 and Station No. 2 in the west part of the city.

Station No. 2 will also be rebuilt at a different location in the future. A date has not yet been announced.

The current Port Acres station is located at 2232 Canal St. and is 5,600 square feet and was built in 1961.

Acting Fire Chief Robert Havens said the city administration has been in touch with the architect and G&G and groundbreaking will take place in the not too distant future.

The new location of station no. 3 is 61^st Street and Ray Avenue on land once owned by the Port Arthur Independent School District. It is across the street from the former site of Stephen F. Austin High School.

The new location is not far from the previous location.

“From a fire protection perspective, even though it’s only a few blocks away, it’s a little more centrally located in the community, so there’s consistent protection throughout the port area,” Havens said.

According to an article from July 2023, both new stations will be modernized and equipped, for example, with an exhaust system to discharge diesel exhaust gases.

There are other requirements, such as increasing the number of parking spaces – there will be three – due to the increasing size of fire engines. There will also be sleeping space for eight people.