Chelsea’s city officials broke ground on the city’s long-awaited new fire station Thursday morning.

Before the ground-breaking, Mayor Earl Niven spoke about his pride in Chelsea and its new endeavors.

“This is an ideal time to build and provide for our city,” he said. “I don’t know that I would want to be mayor of any other city. This is the greatest place in the world.”

Chelsea firefighters, led by Fire Chief Wayne Shirley, joined city officials for the groundbreaking.

Shirley said he’s happy to see the growing city work to meet citizens’ needs. The Chelsea Fire Department has eight firefighters on duty every 24 hours, all of whom have been shoehorned into a cramped space.

“We’ve been working out of that small single-wide mobile home for some time. Having room to grow will be nice,” he said. “The need is past-due, so meeting it as soon as possible is good.”

Gary Dean of Clements-Dean Building Co., which will construct the fire station, said building will begin within two weeks, and the station should be complete in about five months.

He said construction shouldn’t have a negative impact on citizens, especially since the station is away from main roads such as U.S. 280.

“As soon as it’s completed, the service they’ll be able to provide for the community will be much more efficient,” Dean said.

The 11,400-square-foot station will cost $1.2 million to build.