Sand Springs Fire Department unveils new state of the art facility in Prattville

The City of Sand Springs held a grand opening ceremony for their new Fire Station 2 facility Saturday afternoon in Prattville. The station is located at 4347 South 113th Avenue West.

HillSpring Church Pastor Brent Kellogg provided a blessing for the building and several key government officials attended and spoke at the ceremony.

The building replaced an older facility on the same location. The previous building was a sort of Frankenstein’s Monster, having been remodeled and expanded several times over the decades. The roof leaked, the quarters were small, there was only one communal bathroom, and the fire trucks couldn’t even get in and out anytime there was snow on the ground. The project was funded by an October 2015 sales tax initiative.

“It’s just a building at the end of the day, but it represents one heck of a fire department,” said former International Association of Fire Chiefs President Thomas Jenkins, who headed the Sand Springs department before current Chief Mike Wood.

“The building behind me is probably the most significant investment in public safety in this community in about three decades,” said Jenkins. It will only hold that honor for a few months, however, as the new Billie A. Hall Public Safety Center is currently under construction north of the river. That building will house the City’s police and fire departments, as well as municipal courts.

According to Wood, the $1.66 million facility was completed $22,000 under budget. The building is only 640 square feet bigger than the old facility, but the layout is purpose-built and single story.