Lenoir starts negotiations for fire department stabilization

The Lenoir City Council has selected a contractor to stabilize the foundation beneath Fire Station No. 1 after testing revealed worsening soil conditions threaten the nearly 60-year-old building.

On July 28, the Lenoir City Council selected GeoSpecialties LLC to negotiate a Design-Build contract for the structural stabilization of the fire station’s foundation.

Although the city is working with a budget of nearly $2.6 million, the final cost is not currently available. The final cost will be determined during design.

GeoSpecialties received the highest average score from the five-member evaluation committee, scoring only half a point higher than JM Cope Construction in evaluation factors such as qualifications, personnel, working knowledge, and successful past performance on similar projects.

According to the city staff recommendation, GeoSpecialties is the parent company of Shotcrete Contractors Inc., which has worked with Lenoir on stormwater infrastructure repairs, emergency slope stabilization and repair, and pedestrian bridge stabilization following Hurricane Helene.

GeoSpecialties’ submission did not propose a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, the firm will review and validate data from previous tests, develop a plan to repair the area, and work with the city to maintain fire station operations throughout the project.

BACKGROUND ON PROJECT

The fire station sits at the corner of Harper Avenue and Ridge Street NW, greeting visitors to Lenoir who enter the city from the U.S. Hwy. 321 side.

The restabilization is years in the making, tracing back to 2021 when a sinkhole appeared on the southern lawn of the station. At the time, a 42-inch corrugated metal storm drainage pipe that ran parallel to the facility was found to be severely compromised.

Although the city conducted tests on the site in 2021, a supplemental study in May 2026 revealed significant deterioration in subsurface soil conditions had occurred since the preliminary tests five years earlier.

GEOSPECIALTIES

GeoSpecialties is a family-owned, Lexington, Ky.-based construction company that specializes in earth retention, ground improvement, and structural stabilization.

In the proposal, GeoSpecialties pointed to more than 350 years of combined experience across the team of engineers, managers, and superintendents who will be assigned to the job.

The company cited sinkhole remediation work in Gallatin, Tenn., and slope stabilization in Louisville, Ky., as proof that it could handle the job.

Post negotiations, GeoSpecialties will collect data, but it already provided anticipated stabilization processes to be validated during design, including grouting, underground beams, and backfilling the soil where deterioration has occurred.