City opens, dedicates police and fire training facility

Nearly one year after the retirement of former mayor Terry Oden, city officials, police and fire department members, friends and family gathered to celebrate the official dedication of the Mayor Terry Oden Police and Fire Training Facility on Oct. 13.

The plan to dedicate the building — which is now located at 3611 East Street near Rathmell Park — was originally announced during a city council meeting on Nov. 14, 2016, to which Oden had said it was a “great honor,” and described it as “a silver dollar.”

Oden previously served as mayor of Mountain Brook of 20 years, and before, he served in the Secret Service for 25 years. He was the son of a local Birmingham firefighter, too.

“Based on his background, Mayor Oden always possessed a very keen interest in public safety during his time on Mountain Brook City Council and as Mountain Brook mayor, and he always served as liaison to our police and fire department,” City Manager Sam Gaston said. Oden was also chairman of the Jefferson County EMA during his tenure. 

City officials including Mayor Stewart Welch, Police Chief Ted Cook and Fire Chief Chris Mullins all spoke highly of Oden’s work while he was with the city and thanked him for his dedication to the city and public safety.

“I can not think of a more appropriate person to dedicate this building to than Mayor Terry Oden,” Welch said. 

Cook said the project for the joint training facility actually began several years ago. Due to the nature of the relationship between the fire and police departments, both he and Mullins thought it was natural to share the building.

“We’ve got a terrific working relationship among our departments and this facility is just going to help enhance it even more,” he said. “This is just a prime example of the leadership he [Oden] did for the city, joining and partnering together.”

Mullins pointed out too that much of the work done around the building was completed with the help of Public Works, adding that the building will provide important training services for both police and fire department members. 

“Training is so important to us. It’s an integral part of what we do,” Mullins said. “It’s one of the most important parts of our job because it keeps us ready to do our job and to operate at a very high level."

Although the facility still has some minor work left to be done, the fire department has already scheduled a recruitment school for 17 students for Oct. 16. 

“It’s the first ever recruit school in the history of Mountain Brook Fire Department, so we’re very excited about that, very excited to have this facility,” Mullins said. “There will be a lot of people walking in this building passing that Mayor Terry Oden plaque.”