It also includes a unique partnership with Clark State College, which will share part of the cost and use the space and resources for student training.
“It’s an exciting day for the city of Springfield, the Springfield Fire Rescue Division and the community as a whole,” Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck said. “It’s been since 1981 that we’ve invested in new fire stations in our community.”
Heck said the new stations will be efficient and accommodating to a more diverse workforce, plus be an asset to the community for years to come.
Amazing partnership
“The partnership with Clark State College is amazing and goes well beyond this station, but for us to be able to come together as a team and build this asset for the community speaks to the partnership that goes on each and every day,” Heck said.
The cost of the new station is estimated at $6.7 million. Clark State is a part owner and investor in the new fire station, contributing $1.35 million toward the facility.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Clark State President Jo Alice Blondin praised the collaboration between the city and the college as a national model for colleges and communities that serves both residents of the city and students of the college with experiential learning.
“Everything we do at Clark State is about students. So this project is about the more than 200 students we graduate with credentials in our fire program every year,” Blondin said. “We’re really excited to give them a home.”
She touted the collaboration with the city and said, “No other community college in the country has students housed in a fire station in the way this learning lab will be for our students.”
The new buildings allow for more privacy for fire and rescue personnel, making them gender neutral, with private personal space for sleeping and showering. The facilities will also provide design elements to reduce staff exposure to potential cancer-causing risks related to diesel exhaust and off-gassing of fire gear.
Improved responses
Fire Chief Brian Miller emphasized new facilities, along with new and improved gear and equipment, will improve efficiency and readiness, plus strengthen recruitment and retention of fire division staff.
“It’s exciting to be a pioneer of sorts, the first in the country to have a joint fire station with a community college. Not to be clichèd, but ‘win- win’ comes to mind,” the chief said.
For Miller, the new facilities are the culmination of two strategic studies and reports that concluded the existing fire stations were too small and failed to meet the current needs of city residents.
“We continue to take on more challenges because we don’t control why folks call 911. We just get challenged with answering that call,” Miller said. “The new stations will let us do that in a more safe and efficient way. To now have the room, the equipment and the people will let us better meet our mission, which is to serve the citizens of Springfield.”
Opening, closing stations
With new stations being built, others will close.
Stations that will be closed and replaced over the next few years will include fire station #3 at 1401 Selma Road; fire station #4 at 1565 Lagonda Ave.; fire station# 8 at 735 W. Pleasant St.; fire station #5 at 1707 Commerce Road, and fire station #6 at 422 Ludlow Ave.
There are no immediate plans to close and replace fire station #1 at 350 North Fountain Ave. or #7 at 437 E. Home Road, but eventual replacement is likely.
Three additional facility locations will break ground in the next couple of years. They include stations to be located at 100 Zischler St., 3925 South Charleston Pike, and 811 Burt St.
Projected cost for the for the three additional stations will total an estimated $4-4.6 million each.
Both Miller and Heck noted that original planning was more modest in scope when city residents were asked to pass a Fire and Rescue Levy in 2021.
“When we made that commitment with the levy, we were only going to be able build one new station,” Heck said.
“When federal dollars became available through the American Rescue Plan, now we are able to maximize and leverage our local dollars with those federal dollars and build four new stations for the community,” he said. “How tremendous is that for our community?”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
About the Author