PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — The floors are still dirt. The windows are still boarded up.
And now, weeds are overtaking some of the construction materials piled outside the construction site on Seven Springs Boulevard, a few miles southeast of New Port Richey.
The building at the center of the site, still unfinished, was supposed to be Pasco County Fire Rescue’s new Station 17 by now. Work, however, abruptly halted months ago.
That’s frustrating to Mike Traverso, who lives just across the street because he calls 911 regularly. The 72-year-old was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis years ago.
“I fall,” Traverso said from an electric recliner in his living room. “I lose my balance, and when I go down, I don’t have the ability to lift myself up.”
Traditionally, firefighters could get to Traverso’s home in seconds.
“They’ve taken great care to make sure that I was safe — that I was comfortable,” he said. “World-class. Highly professional.”
Due to the construction, they’re temporarily stationed a few miles away.
“It’s frustrating,” Traverso said. “It’s unbelievably frustrating to know that, you know — to wonder why it’s taken so long.”
As ABC Action News first reported in June, work on the new fire station stopped after the contractor doing the work — Orlando-based R L Burns — became mired in dire financial straits for months, wasn’t paying subcontractors hired to build the station, got sued by its performance bonding company, and then filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
Three months later, the work has not resumed, but a spokesperson for Pasco County says progress is being made at reviving the construction.
“Pasco County appreciates the community’s patience as we work to finish construction of Fire Rescue Station 17,” wrote public information officer Ryan Hughes. “After the default of the original contractor, the bonding company bid out the remaining work and presented to Pasco County, a new contractor to complete the work.”
According to Hughes, the new contractor is Gainesville-based Blackwater Construction Services, which has done work for the county in the past.
According to documents, Blackwater said it will cost roughly $3.6 million to finish the station’s construction, which Pasco County estimates is 75% complete.
A cost breakdown includes expenditures for unfinished work like concrete and HVAC and some for repairs to the existing structure, including mold removal.
“It started off being a beautiful, you know, construction site. The drawings were wonderful. And now, to see it looking the way it does…it’s just a shame,” Traverso said. “It’s just a shame.”
Traverso said he knows the county didn’t cause the stall, but he wants to see county leaders urgently resolve it.
Pasco County did not provide an estimated completion date. Still, according to Blackwater’s bid documents, the project will take roughly seven months to finish if and when the contractor receives the county’s blessing to proceed.
According to County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, who cited estimates the county staff provided her, work could resume in roughly 60 days.
JJ Martinez, a representative of Pasco County Professional Firefighter (IAFF 4420), is also hoping for an expeditious resolution to the pause in construction.
“We’re frustrated with station build times throughout the county,” he said. “Our crews have been displaced for more than a year.”
