Demolition began Friday on the old Doris’ Diner on Alabama 157 to make way for the new West Point Fire Station.

WEST POINT — After nearly two years of delays, the first signs of progress on a new five-bay fire station were visible Friday at the project site on Alabama 157.

Jones Excavating demolished the old Doris’ Diner building just east of the Highway 157/ County Road 1242  intersection to make way for a new fire department that’s been in the works since 2013. The project will also include the addition of the town’s second community storm shelter, funded by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant.

Rainy weather this week delayed the start of demolition and interrupted it briefly Friday. For West Point Fire Chief Tim Martin, it’s been a long time coming.

“We’re rearing to go,” he said. “It’s good that people can finally see it’s getting started.”

The new fire station is estimated to cost $600,000 and will be paid for with fire dues. It will include more space to hold training and is situated in a better location.

The current fire station — built in the late 1970s — sits nearby West Point schools which makes its difficult for the fire department to respond to emergencies during school traffic. The old station sits on property owned by the Cullman County Board of Education, and the fire department has been leasing it.

Doris Willingham owned and operated Doris’ Diner, opening the buffet style restaurant around 1989. It closed in the early 2000s when the state bought the property to four-lane 157. When the state no longer needed the land, the town went through the process of acquiring, Mayor Kenneth Kilgo said.

Now that the diner is torn down, county crews can perform the site preparation to get it ready for construction, Kilgo said. 

“It’s going to be a good for everyone,” he said. “We’ll have the new storm shelter right beside the fire station, and the location is going to increase the fire department’s response time. ”

Town officials are also anxious for construction to get underway because the FEMA grant for the second storm shelter requires the shelter to be complete by October 1. 

“Cullman County Economic Development (CCED) has gone ahead and filed for an extension just in case we don’t get it finished in time,” Kilgo said. “I’m hoping we’ll have it done by October 1 though.”

Martin said the fire department is also waiting to hear back from the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) on its request for a permit for access to Alabama 157. 

The fire station was supposed to break ground in 2013 but has been held up while the fire department and adjacent land owner wait on a land survey. The survey West Point received from the state for the property differed from a recent survey done in preparation for construction on the fire station, Kilgo said. A third survey validated the land owner’s, and the site plan was adjusted.