BY MARIE PULEO | LIGHTHOUSE POINT NEWS REPORTER

The groundbreaking for the new Lighthouse Point fire station, which will be built at 2101 NE 36th Street (Sample Road), is anticipated to take place in mid-November, according to Mayor Glenn Troast. Shortly thereafter, work will begin on the new community center at Dan Witt Park, starting with the demolition of the existing Civitan Building.

Almost two years ago, Lighthouse Point voters approved a $16.5 million bond that is being used to fund the new fire station and community center, as well as three other infrastructure projects.

“I am very excited and very much looking forward to starting construction of these much-needed projects for the city,” said Troast.

The next step after the groundbreaking ceremony for the fire station and the demolition of the Civitan building will be the site work, which includes all the underground work to prepare the plumbing, electrical, sewage, drainage, telephone and Internet services.

Troast said he expects the site work to go “rather quickly,” and for vertical construction of the fire station to begin in early 2021.

The date for the demolition of the Civitan Building will depend on when a short-season baseball schedule finishes up at Dan Witt Park, said Troast.

It will also depend on when Florida Power & Light (FPL) can remove their utility equipment from the Civitan building. The equipment provides all the electrical service for Dan Witt Park.

The Civitan Building’s electrical vault will need to be temporarily relocated somewhere else in Dan Witt Park, and will likely be put in the new community center once it is built.

Troast said the City is now targeting when the three other bond projects will start. Those projects are a new public works administration building just north of Dan Witt Park, the renovation of an existing public works building to be used for fleet maintenance, and the buildout of the second floor of the library for use as a community room.

The public works and library projects are still going through the design phase. Construction on these projects will begin sometime after construction starts on the community center, said Troast.

In August, the City Commission approved a not-to-exceed amount of $10,147,566 for both the fire station and the community center combined.

The new fire station will include an emergency operations center and will be built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The community center will function as an additional emergency operations center for the police department when needed, and will also be constructed as a Category 5 structure.

Construction of the fire station and community center is expected to be completed in late 2021 or early 2022, said Troast.

The new fire station will be built on property where a former gas station stood vacant for approximately 14 years. The gas station was demolished in March of this year.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the fire station that is planned for November will be attended by the mayor, city commissioners and other city officials.

For more Lighthouse Point and Pompano Beach news go to our website.

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