The first agreement pertained to 811 Burt Street, in which the city would be purchasing that location from Roundtree Home Solutions LLC for an amount not to exceed $300,000.
The second pertained to the former Wendy’s site at 2040 South Limestone Street and the city is slated to purchase that property from Neilson Property, LTD for an amount not to exceed $314,500.
Construction on the new fire stations would likely not start until at least 2022, said Springfield Fire Chief Brian Miller. The city still has to plan and design those stations.
The authorization of the purchase agreements will allow the city to move forward with those plans, Miller added.
The overall goal is to build three new fire stations all together and replace some of the seven fire stations currently in use by the city’s Fire Rescue Division. Locations are still being scouted for the third new fire station, but city officials are looking at the east side of Springfield.
The average age of those stations currently being used by city firefighters is 56 years old, with the newest one being built in 1981, according to City Manager Heck.
Some of those stations, such as Fire Station 3 on Selma Road cannot accommodate newer fire engines since those models are too big.
The city plans on using funds from the American Rescue Plan, in which Springfield will be allocated a total of $44.2 million in those federal relief dollars. The city has until 2024 to allocate that federal money for projects and expenditures. The deadline to spend that money is December 2026.
Heck said that each of the new fire stations will cost between $3 million and $5 million to build. The idea is that by investing in new fire stations, it will allow the city to invest in new fire equipment as well as improve fire and EMS services.
Miller said they are looking at areas for those new fire stations that will allow the fire division to better serve residents, including decreasing run times for both ambulances and fire engines.
Miller said they are still determining the amount of stations the new ones will replace, that includes plans of having a total of six fire stations servicing the city all together instead of seven.
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