Sevierville celebrates new fire hall
From The Mountain Press
Sevierville celebrates new fire hall, dedicates roadway to Atchley
SEVIERVILLE — City officials did not just celebrate the opening of their newest firehall at Station 4 in Kodak on Thursday, Sept. 17. They also celebrated the legacy of a former mayor who made a big impact on the community.
During a grand opening celebration of Station 4, they shared the importance of the late Bryan C. Atchley, who served as the mayor of Sevierville for 23 years before his passing. The road to Station 4 is named in his honor.
“We gather to honor a man who devoted his life to the betterment of our city and community, former Mayor Bryan C. Atchley. It’s fitting that this street would lead to our new fire hall. A fire hall represents some of the very best qualities of the community: service, courage, sacrifice, responsibility, and a commitment to protecting our citizens and districts,” said Sevierville Mayor Robbie Fox.
Public service is not simply about being in office, Fox said.
“It’s about caring for people in the place you call home. It is about making decisions with the future community in mind, and it is about understanding the work that we do today becomes part of the legacy we leave for those who come after us,” Fox said.
“By naming this street in honor of Bryan C. Atchley, we are making sure that his name remains connected to the city, the fire hall, and the legacy forevermore. From this day forward, every person who travels this road toward our new fire hall will pass a reminder of his contribution to his many years of public service and his tenure as mayor of the city of Sevierville.”
Bryan C. Atchley’s son, Bryan Atchley, thanked officials for remembering his father and shared his own memories of growing up around the fire department and city.
“It’s just an honor to come up here and see the amount of people that he touched,” he said.
Station 4 is designed to sleep nine firefighters and has four administrative offices, and four apparatus bays. The bays will be equipped with a fire engine, ladder truck, water tanker, rescue boats, and a reserve fire engine.
The project cost $8,161,132. The architect was Allen & Hoshall and contractor was Vannoy Construction.
The 17,164 square-feet complex also includes Public Works Department equipment and storage areas, Police Department offices, a multi-use training/meeting room for all City departments to use, and a kitchenette and restrooms for city employee use who may be working in North Sevierville.
It’s their second “fuel farm,” said Public Works Director Doug Tarwater, giving them gas pumps available to city vehicles on the north side of town. Several city departments, like the water department, are located in that area, and the new pumps mean that firefighters at the new station and police patroling that area won’t have to go downtown to get gas.
They also have a secondary salt bin in that area, giving street crews a nearby place to go as they’re treating roads including the hilly entrance to town on Winfield Dunn Parkway.
“During the snow we can have a truck out here loaded with salt, so that instead of going and loading down there (at the main public works facility) we can just have somebody respond straight from here,” Tarwater said.
