Staunton Fire & Rescue Station 1 closes to visitors Thursday, October 29, for upgrades that include new ground-level flooring and a kitchen remodel, the city announced Monday. The Jumbo Museum inside the station has already shut its doors. It will stay closed from October 26 through December 13.
Jumbo is the museum’s centerpiece, the oldest motorized fire engine in Virginia and the only remaining 1911 Robinson fire engine, according to Visit Staunton. The museum sits inside Station 1 at 500 N. Augusta Street, so the construction takes the exhibit with it.
Emergency service does not pause. The city says fire and rescue response will continue as normal, and the department is moving its apparatus and crews to borrowed quarters to protect response times. Engine 1 will operate out of the Staunton Augusta Rescue Squad building on Coalter Street. Ladder 1 will work from Augusta County Fire-Rescue Station 10, near the Walmart inside city limits.
Fire Chief Jason Ball credited the arrangement to relationships built over years of working together. “Whether providing mutual aid during a large-scale emergency or offering a temporary home for our crews during renovations, these partnerships are vital,” Ball said in the city’s release. He added that they keep the community protected and give firefighters the support they need.
The city expects the work to take less than six weeks. Once it wraps, Station 1 will return to normal public access and daily operations. The museum’s December 13 reopening date sits a few days past that window, so check the city’s website before planning a visit with out-of-town guests.