General Motors plans to donate land near its plant on Philadelphia Road to the White Marsh Volunteer Fire Co. for future development as a fire station and community building.
General Motors Baltimore Operations, which produces transmissions and electric motors in White Marsh, will donate more than six acres near its plant, where a nearly 20,000-square-foot, single-story fire house and community building will be constructed.
The volunteer fire company operates out of a station on Ebenezer Road that was built in the 1940s and faces challenges such from traffic and the CSX rail line, which sometimes blocks the road. The station is also in a flood plain and can't be expanded or rebuilt, said Kevin Palmer, president of the White Marsh fire company.
Fire officials have been working with General Motors and the community for three years on plans for a new station.
"This move will allow us to better serve our community, which has grown rapidly over the last 10 years, well into the future," Palmer said in the announcement.
General Motors said it hopes to make the area safer for residents and businesses. The announcement kicked off a fund raising campaign for the fire company.