Largo lands site for replacement of aging Fire Station 42

The City of Largo has acquired a 2.36-acre property along Belcher Road South that will become the future home of a replacement for Fire Station 42, the city’s oldest fire station and one of its busiest.

The city purchased the site, comprised of five parcels, for $3.3 million in an off-market acquisition brokered by Smith & Associates Real Estate. Located just south of East Bay Drive, the property will allow Largo to build a larger replacement station with four apparatus bays.

Mayor Woody Brown told the St. Pete Catalyst that Fire Station 42, built in 1978, was originally designed to house three or four firefighters. Today, eight firefighters and paramedics are assigned to the station each day, along with a peak-response medical unit used to help cover periods of high call volume.

“It’s built for much less apparatus and much less activity than is housed there now,” Brown said.

The station also houses Largo Fire Rescue’s technical rescue apparatus, one of several specialized countywide teams trained to respond to incidents such as trench collapses, high-angle rescues and other complex emergencies, Brown told the Catalyst.

According to Engineering Services Director Jerald Woloszynski, the approximately 12,000-square-foot facility will include four drive-through apparatus bays, 12 dorm rooms and space for stormwater management and employee parking.

In an email, Woloszynski said that increasing the station from two apparatus bays to four will accommodate the department’s continued growth while providing private sleeping quarters, dedicated facilities for female firefighters and separate storage for contaminated turnout gear to improve firefighters’ health and working conditions.

The city estimates the project will cost between $13 million and $16 million, including the station, site improvements and a new emergency traffic signal on Belcher Road South. The project will be funded through Penny for Pinellas, with design and development review planned for 2027 and 2028 and construction anticipated between 2029 and 2030, Woloszynski wrote.

Brown said replacing Station 42 is part of a broader effort to modernize Largo’s aging fire stations. The city is also planning future replacements for Fire Stations 38 and 40, but Station 42 moved to the front of the list after officials identified a property capable of supporting the larger facility.

Finding that property took time.

Patrick Calhoon, a commercial broker with Smith & Associates Real Estate who represented the seller, told the Catalyst negotiations stretched roughly 10 months after discussions began last September.

While the acquisition involved five parcels, Calhoon said they were all owned by the same seller, simplifying the acquisition. A sixth neighboring parcel needed for the overall project was negotiated separately by the city.

Calhoon said Largo had been searching for a site with enough acreage to accommodate a modern fire station while providing access to a major roadway.

“It rang all the bells for them,” he said. “It’s very close to the East Bay-Belcher light.”

Woloszynski wrote that the property met the city’s requirements for size, location and flood zone compatibility while providing room for stormwater infrastructure and an emergency traffic signal.

Woloszynski said the new station will also help Largo Fire Rescue maintain its Insurance Services Office Class 1 rating, the highest classification awarded for community fire protection.

Fire Station 42 is the first of three aging Largo fire stations the city plans to replace in the coming years. While the need for newer facilities is clear, Brown said, “identifying suitable land has become one of the biggest challenges in a city that is largely built out.

“With the growth of our city, we’re trying to piece together parcels, and that’s what we did on this one.”