Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

In a discussion that lasted almost an hour and a half Tuesday night, April 1, the Breckenridge City Commission heard from several City employees and local citizens regarding the future of the Breckenridge fire station.

Breckenridge Fire Department Capt. Jose Garcia, right, and Assistant Fire Chief Wesley Turner address the City Commission at the April 1, 2025, meeting about the need for a new fire station. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The commissioners ultimately failed to reach a consensus on whether or not to demolish the existing structure when building a new facility, voting 3-1 to table the discussion until another meeting when all four commissioners and the mayor could be in attendance. At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Vince Moore was absent. Commissioners Blake Hamilton, Greg Akers and Rob Durham, along with Mayor Bob Sims, were present. Durham voted against the motion to table the agenda item.

Earlier in the discussion, Durham made a motion to demolish the current fire station at 120 W. Elm St. and build a new facility for the Breckenridge Fire Department. Neither Akers nor Hamilton seconded the motion, and the motion died.

The discussion continued with Hamilton questioning information presented by City Manager Cynthia Northrop and City Secretary Jessica Sutter, as he maintained that the building does not need to be demolished.

Hamilton said that he is not against building a new fire station but that he thinks the current building can be sold or refurbished for some other use.

BACKGROUND

Last year, Northrop assembled an ad hoc committee to look into the viability of the fire station and make suggestions for what can be done to improve the work space and living quarters for the firefighters. According to information presented at the Aug. 6, 2024, City Commission meeting, the ad hoc committee consisted of community leaders and others, including representatives from the Breckenridge Economic Development Corp., the Breckenridge Industrial Foundation, Stephens County, as well as an engineer and a builder.

The committee recommended a three-phase solution to dealing with the fire station situation:

• Phase 1 – Place temporary living quarters on parking lot north of Fire Station (OPC: $65,000)
• Phase 2 – Demo existing Fire Station building (OPC: $150,000)
• Phase 3 – Construct modest metal building on remaining slab (OPC: $500,000-$750,000; with grant opportunities to be considered).

The committee also explored other options, but opted not to recommend them for the following reasons:

• Renovating the existing fire station: cost prohibitive/estimated cost $3-$5 million/unknown issues
• Constructing a new metal building on same property to south of existing fire station/fire bays: leaves an empty building to continue to maintain and will continue to deteriorate
• Constructing a new building on new property: cost prohibitive. In addition to the metal building, the cost would also have to include the construction of a new building for bays. A location is also an issue. Ideal location is within a few blocks of existing fire station, as it is centrally located for ideal response times.

At the Aug. 6 meeting, the commission voted 5-0 in favor of the ad hoc’s three-phase plan.

In October 2024, the City accepted bids for the construction of temporary living quarters for the fire department. At the Nov. 5, 2024, meeting, the commissioners voted 4-0 to approve awarding the bid to Breckenridge Homes, formerly RGN Manufacturing, for the purchase of a building that was later installed in the fire station’s parking lot.

At the City Commission’s January meeting, Northrop said that, after further consideration, members of the ad hoc committee had requested that the commissioners obtain a feasibility study to compare the cost of a building a new fire station with the cost of remodeling the current facility in order to re-evaluate the previously approved Phases 2 and 3.

Commissioners Rob Durham and Vince Moore voted to approve the request for a feasibility study, and Mayor Bob Sims voted against it. Northrop contracted with Gary Baker & Associates for the study at a cost of $12,000.

APRIL 1 MEETING

The topic was next brought up at the April 1, 2025, meeting, when Northrop presented a brief feasibility study from Gary Baker & Associates. However, she said that the City staff had some concerns about the numbers presented in the study.

Kevin King speaks to the Breckenridge City Commission on April 1 about plans for the city’s fire station. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

According to information in the meeting’s agenda packet, GBA estimated the cost of remodeling the current building would be almost $1.2 million and the cost of a new building with a new slab would be a little more than $2.2 million.

Northrop said that, after talking to local contractors, the City identified potential savings of nearly $800,000 on the new building option, with one significant difference being demolition costs.

“They estimated $577,000 for the demo, for example, of the building and the slab,” Northrop said. “We already have a quote — and we’ve confirmed it several times that it’s a good quote — for $200,000. Now keep in mind, I think the price differential between $577,000 and $200,000 is because … we own the building. So when we haul the demo rubbish off, we can take it to our monofill and we can put it in the monofill (rather than haul it to Abilene).”

After staff adjustments and adding contingencies, the revised estimates from the City staff showed the new building would cost about $1.5 million, while the remodel would cost approximately $1.7 million.

Northrop said that the remodel option presents “a high risk of unknown cost,” despite appearing comparable in price to a new building.

“If you have five architects, five engineers, you know, five lawyers, you can get different perspectives and different outcomes,” Northrop told the commissioners. “We’re trying to get the best information to you to make the decisions you need to make.”

NEW BUILDING vs. Renovation

One of the main concerns is that the 103-year-old building is deteriorating and poses health risks to the firefighters who live there several days a week. The temporary building has solved those problems, but it is only a short-term solution.

Breckenridge Fire Capt. Jose Garcia, left, and Assistant Fire Chief Wesley Turner talk to the commissioners about problems with the old fire station. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“When you wake up (in the old building), you know there’s something going on because your chest is hurting; we have bad allergies,” said Jose Garcia, a 15-year veteran of the department. “We’ve been in this new building for a month…I feel good. There’s something about that building …. there’s mold, asbestos.”

Other firefighters shared similar concerns about the old station’s condition, including collapsing ceilings and persistent water leaks.

“In our group, there are decades of experience in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, construction, heavy equipment. Every one of us has at least one other job, and nobody has more intimate experience with that building than us,” Assistant Fire Chief Wesley Turner said, explaining why he and other firefighters want a new building. “These guys have lived there. They’ve been there every time the sewer stopped up, when the ceiling fell in on their beds … I mean, they’ve been there through every bit of it.”

Turner maintained that the inspections for the feasibility study didn’t include all of the problems with the building, including bad siding, cracked capstones, missing mortar and more.

Breckenridge City Commissioner Rob Durham explains his position on the fire station issue at the April 1 meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Durham advocated for completely replacing the current structure. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but in five years from now, it’s still a pig,” he said. “My uncle was sheriff here for two terms, and the way that building is now, is the way it was … when he was elected in the ’70s. … It’s not safe for you guys, from a health standpoint, when you’re talking about mold… this starts turning into a health issue.”

Sims, who initially favored renovation, said he changed his position after reviewing the costs. “We don’t have the money,” he said.

However, dissenting view came from Blake Hamilton, who argued for preserving the historic building.

“I’m probably in the minority. Clearly, I don’t think the remodel is totally off the table,” Hamilton said. “I understand. I’ve never lived there. I’ve never experienced it. I do, however, have experience with remodeling the building from 1949 where I work, just down the street. … My eyes, itched and were irritated. Every day I had a headache, every day. We had paneling, and we had green walls. We had six and a half foot ceilings. … And if y’all were to see it now, it is immaculate.”

Hamilton said he wasn’t willing to disregard the information from GBA. “I’m not necessarily for remodel, but I think it needs to be at least a little bit more explored,” he said. “… It’s hard to not give credit to this architecture firm who does this for a living … to take their numbers and just add whatever we want and then take their numbers on a new build and take them from the other way. Like, that just seems like a very skewed view.

“Regardless of if I’m for remodel or rebuild or whatever, I don’t think we need to demolish that building,” Hamilton continued. “I think a 100-year-old building that is built by the same architect that built the courthouse, that built the Olney courthouse, that built everything else you see with those big pillar-like structures, regardless of what shape it’s in, I think needs to stay. I know that that creates more issues with y’all, with the spacing in the bays and all that stuff, but a structurally sound building that has … withstood the test of time, I think … needs more time.”

The commission discussed alternative options, including building new living quarters adjacent to the existing bays while leaving the old structure intact.

Durham eventually made the motion “to approve phase two of the fire station rebuild and demo of the old building,” but the motion failed to receive a second, preventing it from coming to a vote.

City Commissioner Greg Akers, left, listens as fellow commissioner Blake Hamilton discusses his opposition to tearing down the 102-year-old building that currently serves as the fire station. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The discussion continued with suggestions from citizens including using the old bricks from the current building to create a memorial or monument to the historical building, as well as an idea to leave the building there and build a new fire station in the vacant lot next to the post office.

One issue that generated a lot of discussion concerns the number of bays the fire department needs for the fire trucks. The proposal to tear down the current building and build a new facility in its place would leave in place the metal building to the east of the fire station that has several bays. If a new building is constructed at a different location, the project will have the added expense of needing additional bays built.

Another suggestion was to build a permanent building south of the bays on a lot that is mostly vacant, except for a few trees, or to build a new building north of the bays, in the parking lot behind the library.

Akers said that he was in favor of building a new fire station while trying to renovate the old building. However, he said he wanted the full commission to be in attendance before continuing the discussion. He requested to table the agenda item and schedule a special meeting when all four commissioners and the mayor could attend.

After he made a formal motion to table the item and reschedule, Akers was joined by Hamilton and Sims in voting affirmatively, while the Durham voted against it.

With the motion passing, Northrop said she would see what she could do to arrange a special meeting, and the commissioners moved on to the next item on the agenda.

The meeting was live-streamed, and a recording of it is on the City of Breckenridge’s YouTube page. The portion of the meeting about the fire station begins at 30 minutes from the beginning of the video and continues until the 1:52 mark. Click here to see the video.

Breckenridge Fire Chief Malcolm Bufkin talks to the City Commission about conditions at the fire station and the need for a new facility. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge Assistant Fire Chief Wesley Turner addresses the City Commission about the living conditions in the old fire station. The firefighters are currently using a temporary building for their living quarters while the future of the fire station is determined by the commission. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 8:04 p.m. April 7, 2025, to correct the vote to table the agenda item regarding the fire station during the April 1, 2025, meeting.