LAPLACE — Demolition of the Hemlock Fire Station began this week, and if all goes according to plan, the station’s new building should be complete by December 2015.

At the beginning of the year a design contract was awarded for the new $2.5 million Hemlock Fire Station, which will be funded through the LaPlace Volunteer Fire Department sales tax.

St. John the Baptist Parish Communications Director Paige Falgoust said the new building, for which construction is expected to begin next year, will remain at the current site at 521 Hemlock St. in LaPlace.

She said the site’s firefighters have been operating out of a leased building across the street from station, which sustained damage from 2012’s Hurricane Isaac.

The Hemlock Station, originally built in 1962, was rebuilt in 1966 after Hurricane Betsy destroyed it in 1965. Falgoust said with advances in firefighting equipment and apparatus, the current station was too small to fit newer fire trucks.

“With damages from Hurricane Isaac, it was time to build a station that meets the needs of the department to better serve the citizens of St. John Parish,” Falgoust said.