During Friday’s annual town board retreat at the Renaissance Centre, Town Manager Kip Padgett briefly discussed six major building possibilities or plans in the town’s future. He did not put a dollar amount on any project, just talking about its need.
Number one is the expansion of Wake Forest Fire Station #1 on Elm Avenue, the department’s headquarters. “We added 15 new fire fighters to station one (they are currently in recruit school) so we can add another engine company to the downtown station. This is one of our older stations and needs some updates to accommodate for growth.”
Those 15 recruits can be seen around town, running to build endurance in yellow T-shirts. Fire Chief Ron Early said he has no trouble finding qualified recruits; over 100 people applied for the 15 positions.
Station #1 was built in 1983 or shortly thereafter as the result of the contract the Wake Forest Rural Fire Department reached with the Town of Wake Forest to be the town’s fire protector. The town fire department was dissolved — it and the rural department had nearly identical rosters and equipment and stations side by side on South White Street. The original station has been expanded and renovated since then.
The Wake Forest Fire Department has over 80 full-time staff, 20 part-time staff and 28 volunteers at five different stations and seven companies: Engine 1, Engine 2, Engine 3, Engine 4, Engine 5, Ladder 1 and Ladder 2. They protect the Town of Wake Forest and a surrounding 42 square-mile area which includes Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The department answers close to 5,000 emergencies every year consisting of fires, vehicle accidents, medical emergencies, and a variety of other calls. Their entire full time staff is North Carolina Firefighter Level 1 and 2 certified, Hazardous Materials Operations Level and EMT certified.
Number two is the construction of Fire Station #6 on land the town is purchasing on Wait Avenue. Padgett said, “An RFQ (Request for Qualifications) is being developed to select a design/build firm. It has been in the CIP for the last few years.” He told Mayor Vivian Jones, who asked if the design for Station #4 on Jenkins Road could be used, that firefighting techniques and equipment are changing all the time and the new station needs to be as state-of-the art as possible.
The town’s other fire stations are Station #2 on Ligon Mill Road, Station #3 on Forestville Road, Station #4 on Jenkins Road and Station #5 on Holmes Hollow Road just off Falls of Neuse Road.
Number three is construction of the addition to town hall that was in the plan when it was built in 2009. “That has been placed in year 5 of the CIP and will continue to be analyzed during each CIP review. We will also place it in our debt model as it moves closer in time to review affordability,” Padgett said.
Number four is changing the town’s relationship with the Northern Wake Senior Center. “We anticipate increasing our contribution to the Senior Center for the upcoming fiscal year (fy) to $125,000 to help fund the gap in operations with Resources for Seniors. Resources for Seniors has informed us they cannot continue to operate long term and we are planning to bring the Senior Center in house in FY 2025,” Padgett said.
Padgett also said, “The current Senior Center has been expanded, but due to the rise in demand and population, an additional center might be needed in the future to maintain service levels.”
Older Wake Forest residents — men and women, black and white — who were eating lunch on weekdays at Wake Forest Baptist Church found themselves without that group friendship in 1987 when the Sunday School Building was being renovated. They organized themselves into the Northern Wake Senior Citizens Association with the goal of building a senior center. There were only two such centers in Wake County at the time, in Raleigh and Wendell.
They set about raising funds for land and a building, but, by 1993, even with help from the town, the county and the state, they could only purchase some land on East Holding Avenue. And then Bertha Harris, a retired schoolteacher whose accountant husband had made wise investments, gave the group a check for $250,000.
That first building was totally renovated in 2022 and shortly after lightning struck, with the fire damaging the building. It has been renovated again.
Number five may be the construction of a Renaissance Centre Theater on the land next to the center. Padgett said, “Goal 5 of the strategic plan lists a task to evaluate a new performing arts center. An RFQ should go out by the end of January to select a firm to assist in this analysis. That analysis will be reviewed by the BOC for further direction to staff.”
The Gazette also asked Padgett if the town is thinking about another bond issue to build the town hall addition, the second senior center or the possible theater, and he said in his email, “If the BOC chooses to move forward with a theatre and/or senior center, it would be a referendum question. If there was an addition to town hall, we would do installment financing, similar to when Town Hall was built. We most recently used installment financing on our paving project.”
He also said there are no money figures currently for any of these future projects, and the earliest possible date would be in 2026 pending town board approval.
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