GROVES — Groves City and the Economic Development Corporation are taking the next step forward on the funding and building of the new fire station.

The Groves EDC started 20 years ago, when funds couldn’t be allocated for public safety buildings. Groves City Manager D.E. Sosa said he is glad that decision has changed today.

“We have to go through certain steps to allocate and dedicate the EDC funds to the debt service for the new fire station,” he said. “Right now, everybody is on the same page but we have to make sure we do it under the EDC law.”

Sosa said the first step in the upcoming process is to make a timeline and list of necessary projects that need to be completed before groundbreaking can begin.

“Basically, we have to start the process of setting future agenda items once we know what we need to do,” he said. “We have to have the EDC and city council to make this happen.”

Sosa said the current fire station was built in the early 1950s when there were only a handful of paid firefighters and the rest were volunteers.

“Our current fire station was built when the town was much smaller,” he said. “We’ve out grown it. We don’t just want a new fire station; we need one. It’s obsolete. The new trucks may not even fit in the current bays. It’s a great station but it wasn’t build for the mentality we have now and the crew we have now.”

Groves Fire Chief Dale Jackson said the 64-year-old station has begun to have maintenance issues and has outgrown its current capacity.

“The bay area is too small for the type of apparatus we are having to build nowadays,” he said. “The building is also not set up for the new technology. We have issues with maintenance and different things like that.”

Sosa said the new fire station will be located directly across from the police station on West Washington Boulevard.

“We’ve got the property picked out and we want to get an architect to do a primary investigation on size and things like that,” he said. “Once they do that, they can give us an idea on what we need and how much that will cost.”

Sosa said the city has already picked an architect and is just waiting for the building process to begin once the funds have been fully approved.

Jackson said he is ready for the funds to begin being allocated and get the ball rolling on the new station.

“We’ve applied for grants for several years and were told those grants were no longer being given out that way,” he said. “So we had to look at other alternatives. We were able to get with the city manager and it will be funded through the EDC. Were just ready to get forward moving with it. It’s been a longtime coming.”

The building of the new station will not have an impact on property taxes. Funds used will come directly from the EDC under sales tax. For more information, visit cigrovestx.com.