Before the State Highway Administration begins construction of the new interchange at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road, the fire station that sits at the southeast corner must move.

The Montgomery County Council's Public Safety Committee will discuss the site change at its meeting Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in Rockville.

Original plans sited the new location on a piece of property in Glenmont owned by the Washington Metropolitan Administration Transportation Authority. But the county did not make a commitment to purchase the land, which has now shrunk because of the new Metro parking garage at the Glenmont station.

David Dise, who directs the county's department of general services, told councilmembers at a public hearing Tuesday afternoon that if the fire station were built on the downsized WMATA property, there would only be room for three fire engine bays, instead of four.

Because of concerns that a smaller fire station would not be able to handle service needs in the area, the county is looking at a different location: The southwest corner of the Georgia Avenue-Randolph Road intersection. 

This property is currently empty, but was once the site of the old Glenmont Elementary School, and was a planned location for the Victory Youth Center.

The fire station would occupy a little over one third of the property, Dise said.

Councilmember Nancy Floreen suggested using the extra space for recreation purposes, specificially at least one youth soccer field.