THE NEW MIDWAY FIRE AND EMS STATION dedication was celebrated with a whole lot of smiling faces on Saturday, Jan. 18. (Photo by Roger Jordan)

MIDWAY MAYOR GRAYSON VANDEGRIFT addressed a good-sized crowd on a cold, snowy day during the dedication of the new Midway Fire and EMS Station located on Lacefield Road in Midway Station. (Photo by Bob Rouse)

 

For the first time in history, there will be a 24-hours, seven days a week emergency medical service located in and directly serving Midway and northern Woodford County. 

“This took a long time, it wasn’t cheap, but nothing worth doing is. . . . This will absolutely save lives,” Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said at the dedication ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 15.

The project, Vandegrift said, originated in a 2012 study by the county that determined the need for a 24-7 EMS station in Midway. In 2014, during his first mayoral term, Vandegrift approached the fiscal court about the project, but there were not enough funds to tackle the project. However, he said, this changed as the city generated more money. 

 “As the Midway Station began to develop, we had a new, pretty good stream of revenue and we started in earnest working with James and Liles to make this happen,” he said. 

Vandegrift is referring to Woodford County Judge-Executive James Kay and Liles Taylor, the magistrate whose district includes Midway. 

Vandegrift also gave a big shout-out to former mayor Stacy Thurman who he credited with “showing the leadership and determination with the council to make this happen, she made a lot of these decisions about what we all see today.”  

“Midway is a little city that does big things,” he said.  

Vandegrift also singled out Brett Construction and its project manager Jim Hayes and Midway engineer David Brown. 

“David’s a genius, he figured out many, many problems to get this done. When I first told him of the timeline for the project he said ‘Grayson, that’s a little ambitious.’ Well, thanks to him and lots of other people we made it happen,” he said. 

Noting how invaluable the input from Midway Fire Chief Armstrong had been, Vandegrift said, “Our first responders do so much for us and it is important we show our respect for them by providing them with a facility like this to do their job as well as they can.”

Taylor also credited the “incredible cooperative approach between Midway, the county, the Economic Development Authority, and Planning Commission” to realizing this project. 

“With Midway’s expanded growth over the last several years and what is coming, traffic has become a real issue on 421, 341 and I-64,” he said. “With this new station, we have literally added a sixth player on the court to make northern Woodford County and Midway a safer place . . . and, really, the whole county. Instead of bringing EMS up from Versailles or other stations which leaves them without immediate service, this area is now covered and folks needing emergency medical service will get it much faster.”

Kay also focused on what could be achieved through an intentional effort to work together. 

“This kind of local cooperation along with elected officials who listen to experts like Freeman Bailey and Chief Armstrong and then follow that expertise is a real example of how government should work,” Kay said. “I know Midwegians are going to sleep even better knowing this fire and EMS station will protect them and their children.” 

Kay pointed out that having Bailey, who is the Woodford County EMS director, involved was a significant resource. Baily was also responsible for overseeing the recent construction of the other EMS station.

 “I can promise you, every single bolt in this building was needed and it was the right one,” Kay said.

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman also attended the dedication event. 

“This new station means a lot to me personally . . . I just live down 421 on the way to Frankfort, and my husband is the vice principal” at Woodford County High School, she said. “Days like today are so special. It also just adds to your economic development efforts to have community resources like this which are important to companies and industries looking at quality of life.” 

After the speeches were given to rounds of applause and photographs, the crowd of about 60 toured the new station, which also included a new room dedicated as a museum to firefighting in Midway . . . not surprising given it is “historic” Midway.