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A new, more centralized fire station for the Port Acres area is moving along with the recent approval of a construction firm.

Port Arthur City Council approved a contract with G&G Enterprises of Beaumont for construction of the new station No. 3.

The price of the station is approximately $9.2 million. The city entered into a contract with Brown Watford Reynolds, BRW, to perform architectural, design and construction management services for the replacement of Fire Station No. 3 as well as Station No. 2 in the West Side of the city.

Station No. 2 will also be rebuilt in a different location in the future. No date has been announced at this time.

The current station in Port Acres is located at 2232 Canal St. and is 5,600 square feet in size. It was constructed in 1961.

Interim Fire Chief Robert Havens said city officials have been in contact with the architect and G&G and that a groundbreaking will be held in the not too distant future.

The new location for Station No. 3 is at 61^st Street and Ray Avenue on what was once property owned by Port Arthur Independent School District. It is across the street from the former site of Stephen F. Austin High School.

The new location is not far from the current location.

“From a fire protection perspective, even though it’s a few blocks, it’s a little more centered in the community for equal protection throughout Port acres,” Havens said.

The new stations will both have upgrades such as adding an exhaust system to ventilate diesel fumes, according to a July 2023 article.

There are other needs as well such as increasing the size of the bays — there will be three — due to the increasing sizes of fire trucks. There will also be sleeping for eight.