BOSTON — Boston has opened a $16 million ambulance station on the South Boston waterfront, a project city officials said is meant to cut emergency response times in one of the city's fastest-growing neighborhoods, the city said Monday.

Mayor Michelle Wu joined Boston Emergency Medical Services and the city's Public Facilities Department to open the station, which sits on Drydock Avenue in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, next to Pier 10, according to the city.

Boston EMS Chief James Hooley said emergency calls in the South Boston and Seaport area have doubled over the past decade. "This new station gives our members a permanent presence in a growing part of the City and puts an ambulance and our personnel closer to the people who need us," he said.

The building has a two-bay ambulance garage and a second floor with a lounge, kitchenette, showers and a gym for EMS crews, the city said. The project took less than two years to complete.

The station is fully electric and designed to earn LEED certification, part of the city's effort to cut emissions from municipal buildings, according to the city. The site also includes a newly paved plaza and a small landscaped park with trees.

The station was first proposed in a 2022 update to the marine park's master plan to address population growth on the waterfront, the city said.

Boston EMS, the city's main emergency medical provider, responds to more than 141,000 medical emergencies a year, according to the city. The city said Wu's administration has also built a two-bay ambulance station in West Roxbury and a training facility, and has funded EMT scholarships and relaunched the department's cadet program.

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