The building that formerly housed the Cullman County Rescue Squad has been cleared for a complete renovation; one that taps federal COVID-19 grant funds to establish a county-managed pandemic response center capable of serving as an operational base in the event of a future pandemic.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Cullman County Commission awarded a bid of $934,695 to Holly Pond-based Jet-Pep, Inc. to completely renovate the aging facility, which is located near U.S. Highway 31 in north Cullman along Sportsman Lake Road. The commission evicted the Rescue Squad from the building in 2016; the facility has remained unused ever since.

All but $262,045 of the renovation’s total cost will be funded through a special COVID-19 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disbursed to the county commission via federal funds administered through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). Jet-Pep was the lone bidder on the nearly million-dollar project, leaving the county to come up with the additional funds to complement the ADECA grant award of $672,650.

“The building had fallen into disrepair and was really in a dilapidated state,” explained Brad Williams, director of the Cullman County Economic Development Office, which obtained and is locally administering the grant.

“If there’s ever another pandemic, the building will have to be used as a county response center for that,” said Williams. “Built into the design is an area where people can drive through and receive vaccination shots in a central location. But the county can use it for other purposes when it isn’t being called upon for a pandemic response.”

Williams noted the building likely wouldn’t be targeted for renovation without the grant funding. “The county would likely never have done a million-plus [dollar] project to renovate a structure like that without the grant money to cover most of the cost,” he said.

“Even though the county is having to come up with that additional $262,045 to cover the remaining cost of the total bid, the finished building will probably be worth $1.3 million, so it’s a good value all around. It will be a complete renovation; the only thing from the current building that will be reused is the steel.”

Though the old Rescue Squad building lacked abundant enclosed interior space, functioning primarily as a garage and dispatch center, the renovated building will be an enclosed, climate-controlled structure that can serve other county uses on a day-to-day basis unless called upon, in the event of a pandemic, to fulfill its emergency response function.

Though details have yet to be finalized, the county commission is eyeing the new space for use by the county commission on aging, as well as for a food bank.