by Murrel Bland
It took Mike Kane seven years to get a new fire station in the Piper community.
Kane, the very well-entrenched Unified Government Commissioner from the Fifth District, has lobbied his fellow commissioners and County Administrator Doug Bach for the station. He continually pointed out the need for the growing Piper community to have adequate fire coverage. He has said that the fire station near 123rhd Street and Leavenworth Road, built by the former Prairie Township, had long outlived its effectiveness.
The new station, near the intersection of Hutton Road and Leavenworth Road, cost about $5.7 million. It has 2.5 truck bays with a total of 12,000 square feet of floor space.
Kane handled the scissors Saturday morning, Aug. 16, as a ribbon cutting marked the official opening of the station. Various other elected officials along with senior administrators from the Unified Government attended the event.
Kane announced his next project—pushing for the reopening of the fire station in the Fairfax Industrial Area. That station was closed when the Piper station opened. The Fairfax Industrial Association led the protest of that closing to no avail. Budget restraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic were blamed.
Kane said the Unified Government must find the money to reopen the station. Kane is a former employee of General Motors in Fairfax.
The Fire Department is looking at other fire station improvements including those in the Turner and Bethel communities.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.
