Work to begin soon on Lovelady Fire & Rescue new station

The smile on the face of Rutherford College Mayor Yates Jensen was a mile wide as he and other dignitaries turned the first shovels of dirt Oct. 1 at groundbreaking for the future new home of Lovelady Fire & Rescue.

“The Town of Rutherford College is very excited about the construction of the new Lovelady Fire & Rescue station house,” Jensen said after the ceremony. “I can’t think of a more important organization that a community has to have than the volunteer fire department.

“The current building has been here for a very long time (1958),” Jensen continued. “The new updated building will provide a lot more room and allow the department to continue to grow as needed to support our town and surrounding communities.”

The new station house will be on Malcolm Boulevard, just down the street from JD’s Smokehouse and just before the campus of UNC Health Blue Ridge Valdese.

The current station house is also just a short distance away on Malcolm Boulevard, just below the UNC Health campus.

Lovelady Fire & Rescue has served the Rutherford College community for more than 60 years, providing fire and rescue services in the decades before the town was incorporated in 1977.

When incorporation occurred, town leaders decided not to pursue establishment of a municipal fire department and instead to continue to entrust those responsibilities to Lovelady Fire & Rescue.

“This new building will be a huge step forward for us,” said Deputy Chief Jonathan Holden. “One of the keys is that it will have six truck bays, each built for the larger fire trucks that are being produced now.”

The new building, Holden said, will also have a living area for the paid staff who are at the station 24 hours a day, as well as a large meeting room, a training room, and a pit where maintenance of fire and rescue vehicles can be performed.

In total, the new building will have 15,000 square feet and will cost roughly $4.1 million dollars.

Grading of the site is being done by Lackey Grading Company, and the building is being constructed by Brushy Mountain Builders. The work is expected to be complete, Holden said, by the autumn of 2026.

The chief for the department is Nick Reed Jr., and the assistant chief is Reed Bowman. The department has 30 volunteers and several part-time paid staff.

The department plans an open house to show off the new building to the community next autumn.

Holden said the department responds to approximately 900 calls per year, including fire, medical, and rescue emergencies. Members meet for training on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

The Rutherford College Town Council met Oct. 6 at the Town Hall for its regular October meeting, but the agenda was a light one.

Robert Brown, of the Morganton firm Boggs, Crump & Brown, gave the board his summary of the town audit which the firm completed earlier this year.

“Rutherford College is in excellent financial condition,” he assured the board, noting that its fund balances far exceed the minimums required by the state to be considered healthy.

Council also approved the purchase of two new fryers, at $949 each, to be used at the upcoming fish fry for veterans and first responders on Friday, Nov. 7.

Council also had a lengthy discussion concerning a property at 311 Woodlawn Drive, which neighbors have complained about due to lack of upkeep and the parking of scrap vehicles there.

Town Manager Jessica Bargsley explained that the property is currently the center of an estate battle between heirs, making it difficult to get anyone to accept responsibility for maintenance and upkeep.

Council agreed to have its law firm — Beyer and Lippert of Morganton — investigate the matter further.