Plans for Richmond Hill’s fire station and old city hall building on Ford Avenue took a small step forward Tuesday when the City Council unanimously approved an engineering firm to design the project.

The council selected Savannah-based Kern-Coleman and Co., an architectural, engineering, surveying and landscaping firm, which had previously been working with Richmond Hill Fire Chief Vernon Rushing on ideas for the buildings.

Rushing said once a contract with the firm is final, they will begin work on construction drawings so the project can be put out for bid.
Chris Stovall with Thomas and Hutton, the city’s engineering firm, told the council Kern-Coleman scored the highest out of three architectural firms on a scale that included points for experience, project approach, scheduling, fees and more.

“The final scores were pretty close — some are higher on qualifications, some are higher on fees,” Stovall said. “Overall, though, Kern-Coleman came in about five or six points ahead.”

Rushing said Kern-Coleman has been working with the department for a while on preliminary drawings. He said he was happy with the decision.

“Kern-Coleman has done a lot for us already,” Rushing said Thursday. “They’ve been working on preliminary stuff and I think it was a wise choice.”

Richmond Hill Mayor Harold Fowler said the council had considered tearing down the existing fire station and former city hall to build a new fire station, or build a new fire station to attach to the existing old city hall.

“We’ll have to see what design council wants to go with, but we’ll probably go with tearing down the old city hall and fire station and go with a complete new (facility),” Fowler said Thursday.

Read more in the Jan. 19 edition of the News.