New Gulfport Beach Area Fire Station Depends on Land Negotiations

by Keith Burton - GCN  10/06/08 

City leaders have been negotiating for months on a land-swap deal with the owners of the old Chateau de la Mer property to build a new firehouse on Cowan-Lorraine Road, a deal that has yet to be concluded.

The city has big plans for their new Station 7, which would be renamed The Beach House, but to locals, the blown-out state of the current building hasn't changed for years and is a continuous source of criticism for residents upset with the city council and the administration of Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr.

 The station (GCN photo left) has been without walls since hurricane Katrina's storm surge slammed into the building located in a low area on Cowan- Lorraine Road just north of U.S. 90. The firemen stay in a nearby trailer.

The development group that owns the old condo site on the beach also owns a small piece of property just north of Station 7. The firehouse is between the developer's two properties.

The city hopes to swap the current fire station property with the small piece of property to the north, which would give the Chateau de la Mer more property and allow the city's new firehouse to be built on land farther away from the water.

The city has designed the new station to have a beach theme, hence the new name, The Beach House and would be large enough to hold the city's new $1 million, 40-foot ladder truck that the city recently purchased.

Since June, workers have been clearing site of the Chateau de la Mer. The site today (GCN photo right) is an unsightly mess of huge dirt piles and debris from the demolition. The development group that owns the 14-acre property hopes to build either a new condo complex or hotel.