The $17 million renovation of Palm Beach’s historic North Fire Station is nearly complete.
After meeting with the project’s contractor last week, the town has set an unofficial “substantial completion date” for Thursday, Jason Debrincat, assistant director of public works and project engineer for the fire station renovation, told the Daily News.
The town will first test all emergency equipment before fire-rescue personnel begin moving from the department’s temporary facility to the new building at 300 N. County Road, Debrincat said.
Construction on the North Fire Station, seen on Monday, is expected to be complete this week. Work on the project began in 2022.
In recent weeks, crews have been working to complete exterior finishes on the building, Debrincat added, while final preparations for furnishings and inspections were being conducted on the inside of the building.
Work on the North Fire Station project began in 2022 and included a complete renovation of the landmarked structure, which was built in 1927.
Its condition deteriorated over the years, and roof leaks had been a longtime issue. Water intrusion caused by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 led to mold, forcing the relocation of the staff until the building was remediated. An inspection in July 2021 uncovered additional water damage and mold intrusion.
“We discovered roof leaks in the process of inspecting the roof,” Paul Brazil, the town’s director of public works, told the council during a budget workshop that month. “We also had a company come in and check for any water damage. They did find evidence of some mold.”
A construction worker carries a ladder inside the North Fire Station on Monday.
Tests revealed that the air quality inside the building remained good, but council members agreed to move up the building’s renovation after deeming it a “top priority.” The council allocated $1.5 million of a $2.7 million budget surplus for the work, which initially was expected to cost $5.5 million.
That figure ballooned after a significant amount of deterioration was discovered in July 2022 when work on the project got underway, and building officials determined it would be unsafe to continue without additional demolition, Wayne Bergman, the town’s director of planning, zoning & building, told the council in August 2023.
The fire station’s design team, which was helmed by Mark Marsh of Palm Beach-based Bridges Marsh, didn’t expect such a large-scale demolition when the landmarks board approved the work, Bergman said.
The extent of the demolition “was not anticipated initially by the town or by Mr. Marsh when the project received the certificate of appropriateness for the renovations, repairs and fenestration replacement back in July of last year,” Bergman said.
Marsh told staff the tower and roof were unsafe, and that the contractor could not safely work on the building as the roof and other structural components were severely compromised, Bergman said.
Additionally, the structure was found to contain termite-ridden wood, stress cracks in the walls, corroded steel structural beams, sagging rafters, and evidence of spalling in the concrete columns throughout the building.
“If a half-decent hurricane came through here, it would blow the roof off,” David Carmo, the project’s structural engineer, told council members.
The North Fire Station is among the oldest operating fire stations in Florida. The building, which houses 11 fire-rescue and civilian personnel, was landmarked in 1988.
During the renovation, North Fire Station personnel operated out of a temporary station beside the old one, near the intersection of North County and Wells roads. The temporary station was built by American Modular Systems of Manteca, California. It includes a dormitory trailer that can house up to six firefighters, and a bunker trailer that houses fire gear.
Once the transition into the new building is complete, the town will disassemble the trailer, restore the intersection and complete final site improvements, Debrincat said. That work is expected to take place next month.
The shade structure, traffic barriers and bunker storage shed will be repurposed in town, Debrincat said. The temporary trailer will be sold.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach’s North Fire Station redo expected to wrap up this week
