- Gainesville began construction on a $14 million replacement for Fire Station 3 to meet current and future firefighting needs.
- The city launched the Safe by Design initiative with $60 million from a 2022 surtax to fund public safety infrastructure projects.
Gainesville Fire Station 3 opened in 1960, and its service to residents is nearing completion after city officials turned dirt on a replacement station located just a few hundred feet away on Wednesday.
The new Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR) Station 3 will cost $14 million, with three bays, exercise space, room for sleeping on 24-hour shifts and equipment storage. Officials said it’s designed for current firefighting needs and future population growth.
Located at the Eighth Avenue and Waldo Road complex, the station will be built where the Kiwanis International and GFR administration buildings were torn down recently.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the groundbreaking is the first of many as the city aims to revitalize the area, including Citizens Field, the Dwight H. Hunter Pool and the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center. The city reviewed the first phase in December.
Ward said citizens can rest assured that the city is fulfilling its promises to put money into the site.
“It’s not something we are talking about doing,” he said. “It’s not something that only exists in the city hall auditorium or in drawings at the city hall basement. This is real. This is coming out of the ground, and it won’t be long before it’s fully functional.”
The groundbreaking ceremony also marks the start of the city’s “Safe by Design” initiative that will provide $60 million for three separate projects: GFR Station 3, the police department’s property and evidence building and a new Southwest Public Safety Center, which begins construction next week.
The funding for each comes from the county-wide surtax charge passed in 2022. The city dedicated half of the revenues from the surtax to its overarching Streets, Stations and Strong Foundations initiative—the other half continues to fund Wild Spaces, Public Places.
The surtax allows Gainesville to begin tackling a backlog of infrastructure projects. Staff presented the state of city facilities in 2024, saying the maintenance and operations budgets had been funded at about half the industry target. At the time, staff anticipated $176 million in facility restoration and expansion.
At the groundbreaking, Ward said everyone in Gainesville helped fund the project, whether they bought a pack of gum or a car in the last few years. He pointed out that even visitors who shop while passing through contributed as well.
Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the ceremony represents the city doing its job.
“It’s what cities are supposed to do,” Eastman said. “We solve problems, we think long term, we invest before small problems become big ones and we make sure that our community is ready for the future.”
GFR Chief Joseph Hillhouse said Station 3 averages 4,500 calls per year. Extrapolating to 1960, he said the men and women of the station have had more than 100,000 calls and opportunities to change someone’s life.
He said the old station started when the United States had Dwight Eisenhower as president and before the Civil Rights Act was passed or astronauts planted the flag on the moon. The new Station 3 will be an investment in the next 60 years and all the history that occurs.
Currently, Station 3 also features fire training buildings. Interim City Manager Andrew Persons said those training apparatus will be relocated, but a final property has yet to be identified. He said that decision could come this fall or spring.
Ward said Gainesville can rest knowing public safety isn’t just being left to chance.
“Public safety doesn’t happen by accident,” Ward said. “It’s not something we just roll out and say, ‘Oh yeah, we should do a thing for public safety.’ No, this is all by design.”