buildings of distinction
47
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
HE emphasis
on health
and safety
extends to
a spacious
fitness room
with weights
and aerobic equipment.
“One of the big things we
wanted was a larger fitness
room,” Blackley says. “The
one over at Empie Park sta-tion,
the most recent one
built before this one in
2011, is a third this size. It
was way too small. The fire
department has a lot more
emphasis on physical fitness
now. It was important that
we had a big room.”
It’s another change from
the old way of doing things.
“When I first started, you
had folks that were health conscious and would work out and eat
right, but a very small amount,” Flowers says. “We’ve changed.
Now there’s more people that eat right and work out than ones that
don’t.”
Firefighters are on shift for 24 hours at a time. They cook and
eat meals at the station. Another improvement at Station 3 was the
kitchen design.
“Because they are cooking a lot when they’re on shift, we did a
heavy-duty range,” Blackley says. “It came up in our discussions with
the firefighters. The ones we typically get are small. But if they have
seven or eight people they are cooking for, a typical household range
is not big enough. You have big pots to put on there.”
The kitchen also features three pantries and three refrigerators, so
each shift can keep their food separate.
“If you just walked into any station today versus one from 20
years ago, you can tell the kitchen has moved way up the priority
list just based on what’s in there,” Loudermilk says. “The same thing
with the fitness center being more of a priority, the kitchen is more
of a priority because of the use. The small, inexpensive ones get beat
up and it becomes a maintenance issue. You almost have to do it like
a commercial kitchen, because it’s going to get used like one.”
The kitchen, fitness room and training room all include floor-to-
ceiling windows that feature a view of a retention pond to the
south of the building.
T
Opposite: Station 2 at 3403
Park Avenue includes the
Firefighter’s Memorial,
constructed to honor seven
Wilmington firefighters
who died in the line of duty
and the 343 New York City
firefighters who perished
on September 11, 2001. The
memorial includes a piece
of steel recovered from the
rubble of the World Trade
Center. Top: Station 7 at
3230 South College Road.
Below: Station 9 at 1201
Military Cutoff Road.