“I had visions when I walked in here,” Roberge said. “I couldn’t seem to get it off my mind. I had many sleepless nights thinking about it, planning it and putting it all together. You can’t always explain why you fall in love with a building, but you do.”

Since purchasing the property from the city for roughly $50,000 in February 2015, Roberge and his team at RR & Company have been actively redeveloping the former fire house, which was built in 1925.

The completed product is a two-story building with a 2,000-square-foot second-floor apartment that will be available for rent June 1. The first story will hold an office space, which will act as the permanent base of operations for Roberge’s company.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno lauded Roberge for his ingenuity and willingness to devote his time and resources the city.

He added that there’s also some landscaping and paving left to do and the weather will need to cooperate in order for them to complete the job. Money was available in the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) fund to build, and an estimated $950,000 has been spent so far.

About three years ago, issues arose with the old station in Mitchell County when owners of the property wanted the area vacated.

In addition to E-911 director, Johnson is also the county liaison between the Mitchell County Commission and the volunteer firefighters, including the Baconton Volunteer Fire Department. He acted as the primary overseer of the project and, over the last year, worked to find a site, get bids in and get construction going. He said adhering to deadlines helped the process go smoothly and it will, in turn, benefit the community financially.

The new location will be able to retain its Insurance Service Office (ISO) 3 rating. The rating is on a scale of 1-10, with 1 the best rating. The lower ISO number, the lower the insurance premium is. Johnson said the rating helps the community not just save money on buildings their tax dollars support, but on residential property and such as well.