About 21 months after construction began on a fire and emergency medical service station for South Austin, Onion Creek and area residents have celebrated the station's opening and the improved services it will bring to the community.

Located at 11112 Old San Antonio Road, Austin, city officials and residents held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new station April 6. According to the city, the station features three bays and totals 9,177 square-feet, including living quarters. The station cost about $9 million to construct.

“When we broke ground on this station back in 2017 I had the honor and privilege of being here, and I made the comment that the station was about more than just improving response times,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said at the event. “The station [is] a physical manifestation that is about local governance setting priorities and then coming through with the resources in a way that the community has indicated it wants its resources spent.”

District 5 City Council Member Ann Kitchen said she is proud of the new station that will serve the neighborhoods of Onion Creek, The Meadows at Double Creek, Knolls at Slaughter Creek, Crossing at Onion Creek, Parkside at Slaughter Creek and The Reserve at Southpark Meadows.

“This part of town has experienced quite a bit of growth and [residents have] experienced a lot of challenges, all the way from traffic to being concerned about their safety,” she said. “So I know that they all feel so much better having [fire and EMS] located so much closer to them.”

The station is one of many being planned across the city to improve response times in areas that are currently underserved.