DEL.ICIO.USProtest planned in West End community
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/13/08
Community activists in Atlanta's historic West End neighborhood planned to meet through the night in hopes of saving the city's oldest fire station, slated to close in a formal ceremony at 2 p.m. Monday.
The city announced Friday it would to shutter Fire Station No. 7 as part of a massive budget cut. Some residents who opposed the closing had hoped for more time to rally the troops, given the amount of work necessary to shutter the firehouse, at 535 W. Whitehall St.
 Marcus K. Garner | ||
| Several dozen West End residents and business owners protested the closing of the Fire Department's Station No. 7 Saturday. | ||
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But word came Sunday afternoon from city Fire Department officials that the station's 18 firefighters already had been reassigned, and its equipment, including the city's only air truck, had found temporary new homes.
"We're going to try and come up with something to stop this," said former Neighborhood Planning Unit-T Chairman Jerry "Tacuma" Brown, a longtime West End resident.
"We've worked too hard pulling this neighborhood from the gut bucket of the city to a community on the rise to let this happen," Brown said. Residents plan to protest the closing outside the fire station Monday morning.
Even if the 1910 firehouse shuts down as anticipated, the building will not be sold. Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Bill May said the department hopes to one day reopen the station, perhaps as a museum.
"A 'For Sale' sign is the last thing anyone wants to see," May said. "We're hoping once the dust settles, we'll be able to return to the community."
The building had been a linchpin in the neighborhood's recent redevelopment, said John Pavlin, vice-president of the West End Neighborhood Development Association.
"This has knocked the wind out of my sails," Pavlin said. "It's not only a safety issue, but this building has considerable historic significance."
Of the more than $21 million in cuts ordered by Mayor Shirley Franklin, nearly $4.7 million will come from the city's fire and emergency budget.
The decision to close Station No. 7 was reached after seeking recommendations from every city department, she said.
"In this specific case, I have been assured by Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran that the neighborhood should not experience any shortage of service," Franklin said in an e-mail Sunday.
"My administration and the Council have worked hard to upgrade and improve Fire and police services and I am saddened that the Council's budget decisions will make it very hard to continue the city's investment in this area," she said.
More than 40 picketers turned out Saturday evening to protest the station's impending closure.
"Why is it always West End?" asked Neighborhood Planning Unit-T chairman Kwabena Nkromo. "Did we create this budget crisis? No. Why do we have to sacrifice?"
Percy Stith, who lives and owns a business in the community, complained that his family and livelihood would be at risk. By closing the firehouse, he said, "you're putting way too many people in danger.... My insurance is going to go up."
Protesters noted that aside from the more-than 200 businesses in the area, the Station No. 7 is first responder for the 14,000 students, faculty and staff at the Atlanta University Center..
West End is in Council Member Cleta Winslow's 4th District. She said she learned of the fire station's planned closing only 10 minutes before it was announced Friday.
Winslow said she was disappointed because NPU-T and the development association had begun raising money to renovate the pre-World War I facility.
"The administration knew what we were trying to do," she said.
Franklin said the city council needs to take some responsibility for the closing the fire station. "Regrettably the Council didn't make the budget reductions as they could have. That responsibility was passed to me."
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