Gainesville firefighters are crossing their fingers in hopes their department will be selected to receive federal stimulus funding to rebuild the city’s oldest fire station.

The Gainesville City Council on Tuesday approved the fire department’s Firefighters Assistance Grant application, which seeks to secure about $2.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to fully finance the reconstruction of Gainesville Fire Station No. 2 on Holly Drive.

Gainesville Fire Chief Jon Canada said the station was built in 1954 and has endured 24-hour wear and tear ever since. He said the city recently updated the station’s living and sleeping quarters, but the structure will soon need a new roof.

"Even though it’s a very old station and it serves the city well, it’s just got some issues from the age," Canada said. "There’s some settling issues with walls and floors."

The station off Green Street houses a total of 21 city and Hall County firefighters each week, as well as a fire engine, a rescue unit and a Hall County ambulance.

Gainesville City Manager Kip Padgett said the building is one of the city’s four fire stations and the grant would jump-start the city’s plans to modernize it.

"It’s been on our long-range plans to replace this station and do some major improvements," he said.

If awarded, the grant would pay for the Gainesville Fire Department to replace the outdated station with an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient station constructed with recyclable materials. The grant would also provide the station with amenities it lacks, such as sprinkler and alarm systems.

Canada said the federal stimulus act appropriated $210 million for the Firefighters Assistance Grants. But he said according to the Department of Homeland Security, the agency expects between 5,000 and 10,000 fire departments to apply for the grant nationwide, which would total about $30 billion
in requests.

"We know there’s a lot of stories across the nation like ours," he said. "... The grant is a great opportunity for us to get some assistance without using funds from local taxpayers and revenue assistance. It’s definitely a goal of ours — as a department — to replace this station, whether it’s now or in the future."

Padgett said if the fire department doesn’t get the federal grant, the city will make improvements to the station as funds become available.