Gwinnett Fire Department Building New Maintenance Facility

The Gwinnett County Fire Department is constructing a new state-of-the-art maintenance building in Lawrenceville that will consolidate and improve repair and testing of firefighting equipment.

The building will provide climate-controlled, indoor space for testing hoses and ladders, repairing small engines and tools, and maintaining self-contained breathing apparatus, according to a news release from Gwinnett Fire spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge.

"We don’t need any additional personnel because we’re consolidating existing repair and maintenance operations in a single location,” said Fire Chief Bill Myers in the release. “This building provides a safe, efficient facility that will help extend the useful life of the vital equipment we use every day to serve and protect the community.”

Low bidder CRS Building Corp. will start construction of the new building at 620 Swanson Drive in April, with completion set for the end of the year.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the $685,800 construction contract on Tuesday. Funding for the nearly 6,000-square-foot, pre-engineered, warehouse-style building will come from the SPLOST sales tax program.