Years ago, the property along State Road 135 was looked at as a prime location for a new fire station to serve growing areas of Bargersville and White River Township.
But then came a years long annexation battle, that ended with Greenwood taking over thousands of acres along State Road 135. That meant the Bargersville Fire Department no longer had to be concerned about being ready for future growth along much of the busy north-south road, and no longer needed a 1.65-acre piece of land officials had bought in 2008, with the plan of eventually building a fire station there.
Now, the fire department is looking to sell the land, and if a new fire station is planned in the future, it would instead go near the south side of Bargersville to serve growth around County Road 144, Bargersville Fire Chief Jason Ramey said.
The property the fire district is selling, which is west of State Road 135 and near the entrance to the Somerset subdivision, is zoned for commercial use. The Bargersville Community Fire Department board of trustees is asking for bids on the land, with a minimum purchase price of $302,500, according to the legal notice.
Ramey hopes a business owner will want the property, since State Road 135 is continuing to get more development, he said.
Officials decided to sell the property since a second fire station was built along State Road 135, south of Whiteland Road in 2011, and since Greenwood will be in charge of serving the area along State Road 135 in the future, Ramey said.
Bargersville lost an annexation battle with Greenwood that involved much of the land along State Road 135, north of Whiteland Road, including land across the street from the property the fire district owned for a potential new fire station.
Since the property was a few hundred feet away from Greenwood, it didn’t make sense to build the fire station there, Ramey said.
“We didn’t want to build a station that’s right across the street from Greenwood city limits,” Ramey said.
Instead, if the fire department needs a third station in the future, it would likely be located near County Road 144, Ramey said.
