For a small town, some desperately needed public projects just aren’t going to get done “one hamburger fundraiser at a time.” That’s the conclusion Spur’s Eric and Linda Swenson came to as they mulled over the options for a legacy they could provide to the city they’ve called home for nearly eight decades.
“We took the pulse of the community” over informal coffee klatches and drives around the region, said Eric, and the overwhelming sentiment confirmed what they’d already thought: a new firehouse to replace the substandard quarters the city’s volunteer department inherited from the 1920s-era municipal power company.
It’s also a plan Spur fire chief Wess Abbott—a volunteer in Spur’s department though a professional firefighter in Lubbock as his career—wholeheartedly supports.
“Fire truck size and firefighter safety are the leading reasons fire stations designs have changed over the years,” said Abbott. “Each station design is unique because some stations house different types of fire trucks and specialty equipment.”
In Spur, which has made do for decades, volunteers will now have adequate lighting to see inside the station better, have more space to don their PPE so without bumping into one another, and will have properly functioning doors that open more quickly, said Abbott.
The Swensons approached Abbott as soon as they settled on their idea, in fall 2021, and a design began to take shape. Once the benefactors had a clearler picture of needs, Eric said, with the help of retired Dickens county commissioner Charlie Morris they surveyed possible sites and approached landowner Benny Ball of Spur, who owns three parcels on West 3rd Street where the former Godfrey Ford dealership now sits in a dilapidated state. Ball was willing to partcipate, opting to donate the land if the county could provide demolition and cleanup.
Into the conversation entered current commissioner Dennis Wyatt, whose tractor repair business occupies part of the adjoining former Rickels auto dealership and shop.
“Dennis just walked in” as the site visit was taking place, said Eric, and offered up a donation of two of his parcels as well.
Abbott said that it’s also ideal, for purposes of the city’s fire insurance rating, for a station to be located in the center of town. “Your ISO rating will not change thanks to Benny and Debbie Ball and Dennis and Terri Wyatt for donating their down town property,” he said.
A new fire station will also help with recruitment, Abbott observed, “as well as allow us to hold fundraiser events that will help support us in the future.”
The combined site—almost a quarter of a city block—will provide an adequate and convenient location for an 8,000-square-foot firehouse/ training classroom with kitchen facilities, drive-through bays, and wash facilities, pending a thorough property title search already under way, said the Swensons.
Next up, the firefighters enthusiastically gave their blessing even while keeping the project under wraps until county and city cooperation could be ensured. The Dickens county commission pledged their support in their regular monthtly meeting Feb. 14, and the Spur city council heard a description of the plan at its regular session Feb. 15.
To move efficiently on numerous fronts, explained Eric Swenson, the land and building funds will be donated to a limited liability corporation with Morris and Abbott as managers. The LLC will select an architect and a general contractor and oversee the entire construction process, at which time the new station would be deeded to the City of Spur.
The construction cost for the project, he said, might run $100 per square foot, though figures are very preliminary at this point.
The Swensons produced preliminary visuals with a front elevation and basic floor plan. The story-and-a-half steel building, as currently conceived, features design enhancements in keeping with Spur’s historical downtown and a public display space for the city’s antique pumper truck “Old Betsy.”
Many of the design details are still to be determined, said Linda, including due diligence regarding regulatory and safety features, proper dimensions for bay doors, requirements for interior and exterior lighting, ventilation, and the like. The exit bays will likely front on third street directly across from Rickels Park, also allowing the station to be opened up for hosting community gatherings on special occasions such as Homecoming.
“It’ll make Main Street look a lot better,” Linda explained. Though it’s not anticipated that any of the structural elements of the former Rickels and Godfrey dealerships can be retained, Wyatt will still keep his portion of the shop fronting on Burlington Avenue, and care will be taken to preserve any historical artifacts that might surface during cleanup and demolition.
“Rick Rickels was a good friend,” said Eric, who remembers when Rickels auto salesmen would walk their prime prospects back to the “Hook ’Em Nook” to close the deal on the newest Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac models. “It makes me sad to see things go away,” he admitted, but feels the time has come to clean up the derelict site and provide for the future.
“Spur is unique in its volunteerism,” said Eric. Linda heartily agreed, pointing out how readily citizens step up to help not only with the fire department but the food pantry, the library, and more. Linda also expressed how pleased their own next generation was with the plan -- though the Swensons expressly were not seeking public recognition for their gift.
“Our kids are as excited as we are” to see the project happen, she said.
Rewarding the community’s can-do spirit with the means to serve even more effectively is a gift Spur can use for decades to come, and frees the city to focus on other major needs.
Perhaps the greatest appreciation was expressed on behalf of the city council, which reacted to the news with a round of applause, and by Mayor Louise Jones, who’s still guiding her town through some tough struggles with expensive infrastructure projects and summed things up in a single sentence: “I’m so happy I could cry.”
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