By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — The Salisbury Planning Board gave thumbs up for a planned training facility for firefighters at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
The board unanimously recommended approval to Salisbury City Council of a conditional district map amendment that would allow construction of the new RCCC Fire & Emergency Training Facility on the Salisbury campus.
If City Council gives the nod to the rezoning, construction should start this fall, said Preston Mitchell, Planning and Development Services manager for the city.
The Planning Board exempted two planned structures from the city’s design standards — a burn building, which is meant to repeatedly be set on fire, and a mock fire station, Mitchell said.
The training facility also will include a large, multipurpose grass field that will be used for firefighter exercises. Various concrete pads throughout the site will offer firefighters the chance to practice helicopter landings, rescues from wrecked cars and more, Mitchell said.
While the city’s firefighters will train on the site, other communities can send their firefighters and volunteer departments for training as well, he said.
The conditional district overlay was first placed on RCCC’s north campus in 2008 to allow alternative construction materials for Building 400, which features glass and corrugated metal, Mitchell said.
Timmons Group, a Virginia engineering firm, applied for the rezoning and came before the Planning Board. The facility would stand south of Building 400, directly off the side RCCC entrance on Old Concord Road.
Moseley Architects, also based in Virginia, is designing the facility.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.