False Alarm: Grand Prairie Reignites Bid to Turn Firehouse Into Restaurant

GRAND PRAIRIE -- Bob Stephenson had big plans for the old fire station on Main Street. The Keller-based chef was going to keep as much of its original character in place as he answered a call from the city of Grand Prairie to turn the station -- built in 1949 -- into a restaurant."We were going to use old Browders nets as decor -- you know, those giant ones that firefighters used to stretch out and catch people jumping out of buildings?" Stephenson said. "We got all these old ladders from the '30s and '40s and were going to use them as part of our light fixtures."But nearly two years after Grand Prairie first solicited proposals for turning the old structure into a restaurant, the building is still a cleaned-out husk, Stephenson is out of the picture and Grand Prairie has to restart the process.Time waits for no oneStephenson, who co-owns FNG Eats in Keller along with Chef Carlos Arevalo, wanted to add another location in Grand Prairie. He was taken with the fire station and was eager to get the process started, he said.But business transactions with government entities aren't something that can be worked out in day.  Continue reading...