The Town of Fountain Hills is ready to dedicate the new location for Fire Station #2 this Saturday, Dec. 1, at 11 a.m.

This project has been in the works for more than a decade in an effort to improve response times to the western part of Fountain Hills along Shea Boulevard. The site, on Fountain Hills Boulevard, just north of Shea, was also selected to provide better balance of the call load between the two fire stations in town.

The old fire station on Saguaro Boulevard, south of Shea, provided for a delayed response time to the western locations in town with a call load heavily concentrated in the south and east portions of town.

An ambulance crew now housed at the shopping center where Fry’s grocery store is located will be relocated to a home base at the new station.

There will also be space dedicated to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in the new building.

The facility is designed at 9,600 square feet with three truck bays and personal space for six firefighters.

The project bid cost is $4 million. EPCOR Water shared a small portion of costs related to access improvements leading to water company facilities located to the rear of the fire station.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Town Manager Grady Miller and Fountain Hills/Rural Metro Fire Chief Dave Ott will speak for the dedication with a ribbon cutting scheduled for about 11:30 a.m.

A tour of the facility will conclude the activities.

Parking at the site is limited so the public is urged to use caution if parking on the street.