Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – Once the foundation was laid for the Orange Beach Fire Station No. 3, the brick work went up quickly at the site on the corner of Canal Road and Powerline Road.

“We got lucky in the sense that MW Rogers as the general contractor that got the bid, they clearly had a very strong brick-laying subcontractor that really knocked it out of the park,” City Administrator Ken Grimes said. “In between all this crazy rain we’ve had for the last month they were able to really get the foundation poured and get the brick up.”

And, while the work went quickly for the brick base that puts the project at about a quarter of the way finished but currently right on time for the target opening date of late summer or early fall of 2023.

“You can already see on the sign how the tower on the corner is going to look,” Grimes said. “From a stage standpoint I would say you’re 25 percent in as you start your roof and then starting to move indoors. I know our very next step is the roof trusses coming in and getting all of that stacked and starting to come up.”

All the rain has given city officials to see how the site handles drainage and the results have been positive.

“From a timing standpoint, having as much rain as we’ve had, I feel comfortable with what they’ve accomplished thus far,” Grimes said. “At the same time, you can see when you pass by after a rain how the retention ponds are holding the water, its draining really well. That’s the first step I’d say that’s been huge.”

The whole project is going to cost about $5.4 million but that includes site work for and paving the city’s portion of Powerline Road.

“This included $1.2 million for sitework including the new roadway running on the west side of the property on Powerline Road to the southwest corner of the fire station site,” Grimes said. “You’re starting with a mudhole that is Powerline Road today. So, the building was $4.2 million.”

Grimes said there will be an entrance to the station off of Powerline Road and a driveway onto Canal Road for trucks and ambulances to leave the station on calls.

Since using the old sales office at The Wharf became unworkable, crews for the new station have been working out of the old Public Works building on the east side of the high/middle school. A building was placed behind it to house equipment and when the new station is complete it will be taken down and placed at the site of the new station.

“We’ll disassemble and reassemble that metal building behind this building for storage,” Grimes said. “On the foot print there’s a pad that will be back on the back where this is going to go. We had it designed in a way that it could be disassembled and reassembled.”

It will be used for storage at the new site.