Jeannette is moving forward with building a new fire station, but the project will have to be completed in phases while officials find more money.

Council last week approved the first phase of the project using a $1.2 million grant the city received in 2022. That amount will foot the bill for a structure to be built and heat and electricity installed, according to Councilman Chad Krawtz.

“That is clearly not enough,” he said.

The new station is planned for an empty lot next to the current building attached to city hall on South Second Street. The grant has to be spent by the end of 2024.

“At the end of the phase one, we will have a structure that we can store equipment in for now, and our goal then would be to fundraise, either privately or public funds, to build the rest of it out,” Krawtz said. “If we don’t use it, it’s gone, and we have to move immediately to make this happen.”

After realizing the grant, through the American Rescue Plan Act, would pay for only part of the project, council explored other options, including using the former Jeannette EMS station as the fire department’s base. A tour of the building revealed it would be a costly venture to bring it up to fire department standards.

Plans for a new station have been in the works since 2019, but prices for supplies and construction materials have increased since then. The current station, built in 1927, has sewage problems, black mold, termites and asbestos. It also is not big enough to hold all of the department’s trucks.

Krawtz said there will be an additional phase or phases to build the interior depending on the financial situation.

“The contractor is ready to go, and he did confirm he can get the building and heat on for $1.2 million, and electric,” Krawtz said earlier in the week.

Jeannette has the only paid full-time firefighters in the county.

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