SALISBURY — It appears the new Fire Station 3 is still on track to be done by the end of the year.

At the March 5 Salisbury City Council meeting, Public Works Director Chris Tester and Fire Chief Bob Parnell spoke on the progress of the station and where things are headed as it gets into the spring and summer.

The 19,000-square-foot fire station, located on Mahaley Avenue, broke ground back in August 2023 after the city and KMD Construction agreed to a $8,078,000 contract to build the facility in June of that same year.

Fire engine company No. 3, currently at the old Fire Station No. 3 on 1604 West Innes Street, and ladder truck No. 4 will be moving to the new station. It will also host the offices of the fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, three fire inspectors/life safety educators, and the city’s telecommunication division.

“It’s all being specially designed for efficient operations of those divisions and departments,” Parnell said.

The station is going to have three large bay windows, dwellings to accommodate 10 firefighters, a fire education safety center for community outreach, the city’s emergency operations center, fire scene investigation lab center, a fitness room, a breathing compressor refill room and firefighter gear decontamination equipment.

“This station is very similar to the station 6 we opened up three years ago now,” Parnell said.

“That will take us for the next 50, 75 to 100 years.”

Bill Burgin, of the firm Ramsay Burgin Smith Architects, said much of the foundational work has been completed with both the skimmer basin and segmented retaining wall with tiered planter section having been installed.

When it comes to when the station will be finished, Burgin admitted they are “a little bit behind” and that the completion date has changed from Nov. 1 to Nov. 17.

Burgin explained how this past winter was one of the “rainiest” in recent years, but they “know we have to start pushing a little bit in order to catch up on schedule.”

Vice President of KMD Construction Tom Crouch further elaborated that weather and “various site challenges” involving having to “mitigate some bad soils” have caused these delays.

When asked by the council about any potential supply chain issues, Crouch said those have not been a problem, but rather finding a new electrical contractor after the first one that was hired went out of business late last year.

Burgin said his staff are now in discussions with a new contractor, who they’ve previously worked with before, to take over the project.

Crouch said they “should start erecting steel” for Fire Station 3 by the end of the month.