T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Cumberland Trail Fire District fire chief Tim Hall expresses excitement at the fire house’s renovation project’s groundbreaking ceremony.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Cumberland Trail Fire District will soon look different to residents driving by.

On Friday afternoon the district was awarded $1,575,000 by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Ohio under President Donald J. Trump.

The funds will go toward a remodel and expansion project that was started in 2021 when the district’s board of trustees put an internal committee together to address the needs of its firehouse.

Fire Chief Tim Hall said the committee toured multiple firehouses across Ohio and West Virginia to see what best fits the needs of firefighters and residents.

“Our first obstacle we had to overcome was we didn’t own the building, so when the fire district was formed in 1989 the city of St. Clairsville retained ownership of the building and the land that it sits on,” Hall said. “Thanks to the mayor of St. Clairsville Kathryn Thalman and the city council, they allowed us to transfer ownership of the land and the building to the fire district for $1.”

He added that the full project costs $5.2 million, with everything besides the $1,575,000 grant to be covered by the 6-mill levy that was passed in 2023.

“I want to thank the firefighters of Cumberland Trail Fire District. I’m extremely proud to be a small part of this group and their success directly correlates to their hard work and dedication to the residents of St. Clairsville-Richland City Township. I thank everyone for their support and I hope that everyone comes back about a year from now for the ribbon cutting,” Hall said.

In addition to the remodel project, the firehouse’s campus will be expanded due to a recent property donation from Susan Ozolins.

Hall said a little over 9,000 square feet will be added to the facility, which is currently behind the firehouse.

“That’s what enabled us to expand westward. We’re extremely thankful for her doing that, but we’ll be extending out the back of the living space and extending out the front of the living space. Right now, our staff only has one shower in the event that they need to decontaminate after a fire suppression-related event,” Hall said. “Now we’re adding showers and individual bunk rooms. During COVID, we only had a common bunk room that became an obstacle. We have men and women both here occupying the station, so now they’ll each have their own bunk rooms. The kitchen gets expanded. Right now, the kitchen is very small and inadequate for trying to feed nine to 10 individuals on duty. We’re adding a decontamination room specifically for laundering our gear for cancer prevention.”

He added that a specific gear storage room will also be added.

“As you can see in the bay right now, the lockers are original from 1978, so we’ll have new lockers to store their gear,” Hall said. “One of the things that I’m most excited about is on the back side of the firehouse, there’ll be a three-story training tower that will enable us to do some internal training here to better prepare our firefighters for incidents that may occur.”

USDA Ohio state director of rural development Charles Tassell added that the Trump administration is focused on making sure rural areas are taken care of.

“This is a quintessential rural area that we want to make sure is front and center, whether it’s the cracks in the concrete or just the needs down the street, we’ve got to make sure every piece is taken care of,” Tassell said. “This is the groundbreaking piece of what we have been working behind the scenes with them for quite a while to get this $1,575,000 up and ready so that they can really grow.”

U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli added that when you look at the geography of the fire station, it’s perfect for the region.

“It allows full access as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but I think the facility just needs to be reworked,” Rulli said. “It’s so awesome to see the rubber meet the road and it becomes a reality.”

Hall said the project is estimated to take exactly one year, but he believes it’ll be closer to a year and a half.

He added that throughout the remodeling project the station will still be operational.