Despite blustery southwest winds, Edwardsville city and fire officials officially broke ground on the new East Fire Station Tuesday.
Aldermen Chris Farrar, Jack Burns, SJ Morrison and Jennifer Warren and several city staff members also attended. Mayor Art Risavy and Fire Chief James Whiteford delivered brief remarks due to the weather conditions. There was no podium, microphone or speakers. Whiteford said this project has its roots as far back as 2010 under former Mayor Gary Niebur who formed a committee to investigate whether the city needed to modify its fire coverage for residents.
Up until the mid-2000s, Whiteford said Edwardsville had maintained a north-to-south orientation. Ten to 15 years ago, that began changing into the present east-to-west orientation present today.