The fast-growing Gate Parkway area has been served since last September by firefighters working out of a temporary structure.
But Mayor Lenny Curry, members of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and City Council members broke ground Wednesday on $7 million building that will be the new home of Fire Station No. 63.
“In this business, minutes equal lives,” JFRD Chief Keith Powers said at the ceremony. Curry included money for three new fire stations, including No. 63, in the city budget that was approved Tuesday night by City Council.
“Firefighters spend a third of their lives away from home, from their families. So it’s very important that when a station is built -- it’s their second home,” said Randy Wyse, president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters.