Williamsburg celebrates new $15M firehouse: ‘It’s amazing’
Facility includes museum to honor department’s past
WILLIAMSBURG — More than 500 days after breaking ground, Williamsburg’s new 32,000-squarefoot fire station made its grand debut last week with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting in front of a packed house.
Residents and representatives from the city, the Williamsburg fire and police departments, James City County, New Kent County, William & Mary, Colonial Williamsburg and more gathered in the station’s new apparatus bay for a brief ceremony before touring the $15 million facility.
Fire Chief Larry Snyder marveled at Wednesday’s turnout.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “People keep coming up to congratulate me, and I say, this isn’t just a big day for us, it’s a big day for the community. … I wanted the community to be here to see their station.”
Mayor Doug Pons called the station a demonstration of how the fire department’s service as well as the people it serves are prized.
“A local government’s budget is a statement of priorities,” Pons said. “A multimillion-dollar project like this fire station is now a correct reflection of the value we place on public safety.”
There are 46 personnel in the fire department, with seven assigned to fire administration and 39 in operations. Additionally, there are roughly 25 volunteers.
Members of Williamsburg City Council as well as fire department personnel took part in the ribbon-cutting, standing by as Snyder used a fire ax to make the ceremonial
cut. Attendees were then able to wander around the new station, checking out the individual bunk rooms, the gym, common areas, offices and the fireman’s pole, which, yes, some firefighters do use.
Among the features is a museum, which traces the Williamsburg Fire Department’s history from the first all-volunteer force created in 1753 to the hiring of the first paid fire marshal in 1950 to today’s station.
Snyder said there was an intent to use the new station “as a canvas to share and tell this department’s story.”
“Seeing the station come to life has been really special,” Battalion ChiefEMS Ciera Fenske said.
During construction, which began in April 2022, fire personnel operated out of the Municipal Building as well as out of some of the Public Works & Utilities buildings, with a tent in the Municipal Building parking
lot to house the station’s emergency vehicles. The department officially moved in and began working out of the new station late last month.
The building replaces the old station at its site on North Boundary Street, where the department had been since 1978, according to an overview on the city’s website. Demolition of the old building began in February 2022 and was completed the next month.
David A. Nice Builders and architectural firms GuernseyTingle Architects and Stewart-Cooper-Newell Architects were the new station’s design-build team.
Previously, the city had planned to construct a second fire station while renovating the original. But after a consultant highlighted deficiencies in the old building, city leaders decided to replace the outdated structure entirely.