PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of Treasure Island just broke ground on a new public safety building, after the former building was destroyed by Hurricane Helene.
"It's definitely a family, it's the only way to describe it," said Steven Rowland, a firefighter for the City of Treasure Island.
It’s a family without a permanent home — but that’s about to change.
"We're excited, we've been waiting on this, we're finally happy to see it breaking ground and we are ready to move in," Rowland said.
"I'll admit it'll finally be nice to stop using the word temporary when we are talking about our facilities," said John Barkley, Treasure Island Police Chief.
Treasure Island firefighters and police have been working out of makeshift trailers for the last two years, since Hurricane Helene destroyed the city’s public safety building.
"It's been very tough these temporary buildings…the first buildings we had had not bathrooms, they leaked, water was running all over our computers," said Mark Douglas, a Treasure Island police officer.
Rowland is a firefighter for Treasure Island and said he’s had to work out of seven different locations over the last two years — and it's been challenging.
"Most of us are routine-oriented, so definitely it shook us for that…there are challenges, different routes that we take, the call volume changes, but I think we've done a pretty good job balancing that out," said Rowland.
But every day, first responders showed up to work to help the people in their community.
"For them to keep their attitudes good and to serve the citizens from that, barely adequate base of operations, I couldn't applaud them anymore," said Trip Barrs, Treasure Island Fire Chief.
The City of Treasure Island broke ground on the new public safety building on Thursday.
The project will cost about $10 million and will include storm surge protection and hurricane resistant features. Leaders said it should last for decades.
"I think it will make a big difference, with having the new building… one that we can definitely go back to and one that is hurricane-proof," said Douglas.
Rowland said the new building is a step in the right direction for Treasure Island.
"It's nice to have a permanent home, you know, our community is rebounding, rebuilding and I think this is a great step forward for that," said Rowland.
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