Seven Corners Fire Station eyes 2024 completion

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is expanding a 1977 station in another measure to modernize and expand its service.

Seven Corners’ one-story Station 28 (2949 Sleepy Hollow Road) has moved into a temporary setup at 6637 South Street. The department moved operations on Feb. 16 with uninterrupted service.

Moving day at Station 28, Seven Corners! The current station will be torn down. A new station is going to be built in its place. The crew will be moving to a temporary station a short distance away. Units are still in service! #FCFRD pic.twitter.com/Xr78Bn2fJ4

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) February 16, 2022

Crews will demolish the 8,518-square-foot station, which has two bays, to replace it with a larger 13,513-square-foot, two-story station with three bays.

With women making up 12% of firefighter positions in the county, which is higher than the national average of 5%, the new facility is adding more locker room space for both genders as well as more bunkrooms, according to the department.

“All of our temporary facilities and our new stations that we’re building are well equipped to handle an increase in female firefighters,” department spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt said, adding that this continues a yearslong trend in facility upgrades that are mindful of the workforce changes.

While there will be locker rooms for men and women, a series of two- and four-person bunk rooms will be gender neutral, an approach that all new fire stations have.

A 2018 bond referendum raised $13 million for the project, noting the growing service needs for the Bailey’s Crossroads area, too. While the project’s price tag is still $13 million, funding beyond the bond may be evaluated based on the construction bids received, Hildebrandt wrote in an email.

Construction is slated to begin this spring, with occupancy slated for mid-2024.