The building of the proposed Myrtle Beach Fire Station No. 1 is a top priority and Myrtle Beach City Council is seeking as much state funding for it as possible.

Scott Talley, a former state senator representing Spartanburg County, of the Tallon Group was hired in February as the city’s governmental affairs representative. He was at city council’s workshop Tuesday morning, March 3, to discuss upcoming legislative priorities. 

“We sent to you, last night, a draft letter requesting state support for the new Fire Station No. 1 in the amount of $26 million,” Mayor Mark Kruea said.

He followed up by saying the funds requested for the fire station are 75% of the total cost.

The site of the planned fire station is on Robert Grissom Parkway, between Mercantile Place and Executive Avenue. It will be a six-bay station that will house the city’s Emergency Operations Center and feature individual bunk rooms for firefighters and also state-of-the-art technology for the city’s public safety operations.

The planned groundbreaking date for the station is the summer of 2026.

When Kruea asked Talley about the chances that the city will get funding for the fire station, Talley answered that they were “good.”

Councilman Phil Render said earlier in the discussion that Myrtle Beach plans to contribute funding to go along with any state funding.

“We don’t come with an empty pitcher,” Render said.

Talley agreed and emphasized the importance of bringing local funds to the table.

“The local component is almost mandatory,” Talley said. “There are requests from across the state on a variety of things.”

Talley also said legislators will be more receptive to projects that affect the local community, but “the state is not going to fully fund anybody’s project.” 

At the beginning of the meeting, Kruea said that many representatives from Myrtle Beach were in Columbia last week with the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.