GULF COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – City officials broke ground in July on their new fire station for the second time.
The city hired Monolith Construction to complete the project originally started in January 2021 by Winterfell Construction, owned by Tommy Hamm and his wife Jamie. City officials accused them of doing poor-quality work.
“There were a lot of faults, a lot of things that didn’t happen the right way. So, it took us a long time to really get it uncovered, really started seeing what’s going on, and we had a plan to get started. But until we really got into it, we really didn’t know exactly what we were getting into,” Monolith Construction President Chris Karagiannis said.
Monolith immediately got to work after the city awarded the company the contract earlier this year. Contractors framed up walls for rooms to code and completed all electrical and plumbing work.
They also repaired the concrete slabs that were a large part of the dispute between the city and Winterfell.
“This room will be your kitchen and meeting area. You have your kitchen cabinets, a stove, a freezer, and a refrigerator. And over here, we’ll have just big tables with chairs for the firemen to be able to meet in. And one more office right there. So, you got a total of four offices,” Project Superintendent Nick McCormick said.
With a centralized location, firefighters can efficiently help those in need.
“We were actually working here on site and just a neighbor you know, one or two lots over there was a little brush fire in the yard. And we were all kind of sitting here and watching it. We’re all like, I mean, we’re in the firehouse, right? So, who do you call? So, you dial 911, and then there’s a whole response time behind it, and you got to mobilize trucks from wherever they are. And so just having that central hub of, you know, of people and, volunteers and a firehouse and being able to respond to any sort of emergency, I think is as critical for any community” Monolith Vice President Nick SanPhillipo said.
The project was originally projected to finish in January, but Monolith Construction officials believe they could be finished as early as December.
