There are concerns surrounding aging fire stations in the city of Mobile. Half of Mobile's fire stations are more than 50 years old. Eleven of them were built before 1976, when asbestos was banned. However, one of those could soon be getting a facelift.

On Tuesday, Mobile City Councilmembers held over an agenda item that would pay for a design contract for a new fire station in Toulminville. The contract would likely be approved next week. Holding it over for a week is city council's protocol.

The fire station would replace the old one on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive which Mobile Fire-Rescue's Station 14. Station 14 was built in 1948 and it's the third oldest station in the city of Mobile.

"That station has been there for so long and it's a small station and it's time for a new station to service those areas," Mobile City Councilmember William Carroll said.

A design contract is on the table to build a completely new fire station across the street, tearing the old one down. That contract would cost $143,400.

"We have had members bring photographs and concerns to us about mold, particularly the Azalea Road station but there's several others including Airport and Engine 20, 23, 21, 19, all those stations have had mold issues," Mobile Firefighters Association IAFF Local 1349 President Bill Erickson said.

Erickson said the city has been involved with trying to replace some stations, but it's a lengthy process. As we mentioned earlier, 11 of the 18 stations were built before 1976, which is when asbestos was banned. In June of last year, Station 8 was temporarily shutdown after an asbestos test came back positive.

"I think that's what makes the mold mitigation issues more difficult is that these older buildings have some materials like asbestos that they don't want to release so it's almost easier to replace the station to try to fix some of the issues," Erickson said.

Erickson pointed out that firefighters spend a third of their lives inside these stations. Carrol knows that many of the stations need improvements.

"There's an overall CIP plan that was put together over a number of years stating which buildings and facilities needed to be done and corrected," Carroll said. "At one point they were showing about $250 million or $300 million in capital improvements that were needed all over the city. This is just one of those capital improvements that are needed that improve the quality of life and services to the people of the city."

The anticipated construction start date to replace Station 14 would be June 5, according to the proposed design contract.

Click here to view the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department's 2022 Annual Report.