By Lucky Kidd
McPHERSON, Kan. — Ground was broken Tuesday afternoon for the new McPherson Fire Station 2 on North Main. During the ceremony Fire Chief TJ Wyssmann outlined what the new station will mean for McPherson will bring, including improvement to response times on the north side of the city.
“We will no longer wait helplessly on a railroad crossing for a train to pass so we can continue our response and provide life-saving services,” Wyssmann said, adding “it will continue continuity of fire service operations, so if one station is incapacitated by a disaster or event.”
Among speakers during the groundbreaking was Kansas Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn (R-McPherson) who said the project is another example of how McPherson is a visionary community. “We don’t wait until we have to have it, we know we’re going to have to have it, so we get started now, and it’s emblematic of what our community has done year in and year out,” Wilborn said.
Other speakers during the ceremony included Mayor Tom Brown, City Commissioners Gary Mehl and Larry Wiens, project architect Emily Taylor from Hutton, Interim City Administrator Daniela Rivas, and Board of Public Utilities general manager Josh Bedel.
Representatives of the Fire Department joined the speakers in the ceremonial turning of the first shovels of dirt.
