The Washington State Department of Commerce recently awarded Southeast Thurston Fire Authority a $244,440 grant to partially fund the recommission of Station 22, a small substation abandoned more than a decade ago near Lake Lawrence.
Fire Chief Mark King said the fire authority is still looking to find other sources of grant funding to mitigate the cost of a potential bond. This grant is only a portion of funding, he said. Last year, the fire authority was granted $252,000 by the state capital budget for land preparation work on the project.
“Eventually, it will have to go on a bond. But we want to keep that as small as possible,” he said.
The substation, located at 17213 153rd Ave. SE, was abandoned in 2007 after a water line leak damaged the inside of the residential mobile home, which was the living quarters for a small staff that would sometimes occupy the station when needed.