Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development Philip Brave Davis was in Grand Bahama on Friday for the contract signing of a $6 million fire station for that island.

Residents of the island will not soon forget the names “Francis” and “Jeanne”, the two hurricanes that devastated Grand Bahama in 2004 including the fire station of East Settlers Way.

Mr. Davis said, “The challenges of the economy have caused delay of what government committed to do since 2012. That delay, though, has not translated to denial. Grand Bahama will have a state-of-the-art police fire station from which officers can serve the population well into the future — and very soon.”

He said the contract is for $6 million between the government and Patrick McDonald Construction Company, and will not exceed 70 weeks. The terms of this contract comprise the standard Government Long Form Contract with some modifications.

The tender process began when three building contractors were invited to submit bids in Freeport, Grand Bahama. The initial bids were submitted and publicly opened at the Ministry of Finance Tenders Board Meeting in Nassau on December 16, 2014.

A Tender Report was prepared by the Quantity Surveying Firm Veritas Consultants Ltd., and the same was presented to the tenders board earlier this year. A recommendation was made to Cabinet for consideration and the contract signing on Friday was the product of Cabinet’s decision.

With three acres of land donated by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, the proposed police fire station project will be designed and built at Fairfield East on the corner of Sergeant Major Drive and Settlers Way, East Freeport.

The station will feature an 11,660-square-foot main two-storey Administrative Building. The ground floor will house administrative offices for the staff and a reception area with public restrooms. There will also be a police training room, an operator’s office, police locker room, exercise room, day room, dining room, and kitchen.

In addition to this, there will be a First Aid Room for staff who may become ill or sustain injury during working hours.

The upper floor will house a police dormitory for both male and female police officers. There will be eight single bedrooms, two double bedrooms and five bunk beds for male officers. The female officers will be provided housing with four bunk beds, separate bathrooms, changing areas and showers. A common laundry room will serve all officers.

Adjourning the Administrative Building, is a single storey fire garage which will house four fire trucks and have some support spaces for storage, tools and lockers. A grease pole will connect the garage to the dormitory level of the main building.

Standalone buildings to service the fire trucks and other police vehicles associated with the police fire station will also be housed on the property.

Also present for the contract signing were Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville who said this construction has been a priority for the government since 2012, however, technical challenges with the original plans had to be modified causing delays.

The awarding of the contract, he said, demonstrates the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of residents of the island.

Also present for the contract signing were: Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Urban Development, Colin Higgs; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Grand Bahama, Melvin Seymour; Senior Undersecretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama, Harcourt Brown; President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Ian Rolle; Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, Emrick Seymour; and other Deputy Directors and staff of the Ministry of Works and Urban Development.