Published: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 / Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 04:38 PM
EMS station opens in 'Walnut Creek'
INDIAN LAND --
After three years of sitting vacant, the EMS station at the subdivision that had been known as Edenmoor will officially open its doors this week.
The Lancaster County Council approved funding three paramedics for the station, located on Hwy. 521 near the intersection of Hwy. 75. The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce had an official ribbon cutting on Tuesday and paramedics are expected to move in next week after the Certificate of Occupancy is transferred from the land owners to the county.
Also Tuesday, officials announced the subdivision’s name is changing to Walnut Creek.
The EMS station will be the second in the Panhandle. The first EMS station is located on Hwy. 521, across from Indian Land Middle School.
“Certainly it will increase public safety in the Panhandle area,” County Administrator Steve Willis said.
Right now, if the existing EMS unit is tied up on a call and another call comes in, assistance can come from Fort Mill or Lancaster.
“Either one, that’s going to take awhile,” Willis said.
A “Quick Response Vehicle” that serves the Panhandle can be called as backup, but they are not allowed to transport patients to the hospital, Willis said.
After construction in 2008, the EMS station was abandoned by then-property owners Lawson’s Bend LLC. The company let the property fall into foreclosure and liens were placed on the property, preventing Lancaster County from taking ownership of the building.
The county council briefly considered condemning the property and taking ownership, but never took any action. While the building sat vacant, windows were damaged and the heating and air unit was stolen.
In September, Saybrook Capital, a California-based investment group, and LStar, a Raleigh-based developer, bought Edenmoor and have been working on repairing the roads and EMS station, as well as a county park on the property.
The 60-acre park, including multiple ball fields and a recreation office, is undergoing repairs and isn’t likely to open until the summer of 2012, Willis said. The recreation building has suffered significant damage from vandalism over the past three years, he added, including broken windows, theft and serious damage caused by a truck driving into the building.
“They literally drove a truck through a wall to steal the ice maker,” Willis said. “The recreation building isn’t just damage, it’s destruction.”