HILO — The final touches are being made to a new Hawaii Fire Department station on Haihai Street in Hilo.
Assistant Fire Chief Glen Honda said there’s no opening date for the 12,000-square-foot facility, which will replace a smaller station on Kawailani Street, but the project is getting close to completion.
“Probably by the end of this month, we can start considering moving in,” he said, adding telephone communications and punch-list items remain to be completed. “We’re kind of playing it by ear.”
On the outside, the new station across from Hilo Municipal Golf Course looks finished. A few workers could be seen Thursday painting a chain-link fence.
The County Council advanced a bill Wednesday during a Finance Committee meeting appropriating $154,000 in general obligation bonds to the project. That would bring the amount allotted for construction to $11 million, according to a financial impact statement.
Deanna Sako, deputy finance director, said the council had approved about $11 million in bonds for the new station. She said the additional money is a reallocation of funds from the previous fiscal year.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.