By Staff
DEMOLITION Assistant Fire Chief Sammy Foy said he was flooded with memories Tuesday afternoon as he watched the demolition of the old No. 1 fire station on Seventh Street. Photo by Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
March 7, 2001
Meridian firefighters said good-bye Tuesday afternoon to the building they called home for 40 years.
Demolition crews began taking apart the old No. 1 fire station by ramming a backhoe's bucket into the north wall. After they created a hole there, the wall started to crumble and the building began to come down.
Meridian Fire Chief Bunky Partridge said the station will be remembered for the rich traditions that grew out of a family of firefighters living in close quarters.
Lauderdale County assistant road manager Ernest West said crews will work their way around to the south side of the building on Seventh Street today. Traffic may be rerouted in that area due to the demolition.
County crews initiated the destruction of the building because the city does not have the heavy equipment needed for the job, West said Tuesday.
Before the building was remodeled to become a fire station in 1959, it served as a funeral home and then as a grocery store, Partridge said.
The old building will find its final resting place at the Lauderdale County Training Facility, where its pieces will be buried.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.