The City of Patterson is now the new owner of the former Georgia Forestry Unit office on Main Street (Georgia Highway 32).
“We now own the building and the fire tower. It is ours,” said Patterson Mayor Dedi Thomas at last Thursday’s city council meeting.
Thomas had been in negotiations with the state properties commission to obtain the old Georgia Forestry Commission location.
Plans call for Patterson’s fire department and public works departments to move to the old forestry commission building.
The Georgia Forestry Unit in Patterson has been in service since at least the 1950s, but closed in May as the Pierce unit was merged with the Bacon County unit and relocated to Georgia Highway 32 in Bacon County.
The iconic fire tower and official county weather station closed at that time.
Thomas hinted that the city might try to find a use for the fire tower, but did not give specifics.
Public works superintendent Tyler Stokes said work has begun on the forestry commission building, but there is no timetable for moving the public works department or fire station to the newly purchased facility.
