City Commission will vote on whether to authorize the expenditure of up to $4,996,000 at their next regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 19. That roughly $5 million price tag is lower than bids approved for several of the other fire stations.
Assistant Mayor David Estrop asked if that is an indication of supply costs coming down or if it is the result of fewer features, such as those included for Clark State College classrooms or the police substation in other newly built fire facilities.
Assistant City Manager Jason Via said the city received more and better bids on the project, and that the new facility would include the added feature of additional bay space and storage allotted for Box 27, the volunteer group that supports firefighters at active fires.
“We had five or six competing in the bidding process. We were pleased with the number and quality of bids,” Via said. “They came in lower than the others.”
The site of the fire station has been controversial.
The city bought The Villager Inn at 1715 W. North Street two years ago for use as a homeless shelter at a cost of $1.7 million. But once the city had taken possession, the structure was found to be in worse condition than anticipated. Then an August 2023 fire caused further structural damage. Ultimately the city demolished the building, never once having used it to house the homeless.
City officials had originally announced plans to build the new west side fire station at 100 Zischler Street, but switched the location to the former hotel site when they determined the Zischler site would not accommodate the four-bay station size intended for the building.
Part of larger fire station plan
The structure will be another addition to major city safety upgrades being funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) — funding that was allocated to communities to offset financial difficulties resulting from the COVID pandemic.
It had been decades since new fire station facilities had been constructed in the city. The new facilities incorporate changes to equipment, apparatus and personnel that have occurred since the last station was built in 1981.
Fire Station #2 on South Limestone Street was the first to open and was unique in the nation as a joint project with Clark State College to enable emergency services training and classes on site.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Construction on the second new station at 3915 South Charleston Pike is ahead of schedule according to city officials who are projecting an April 2025 opening.
City Commissioners also approved an additional $258,520.22 in funding for that project to cover the cost of changes in HVAC services and the liner walls to be installed in the engineered building. Those updates bring the total anticipated cost to $5,842,137.22.
The east side facility will serve the quickly expanding needs of the city where major housing and industrial development has been underway for the past several years. It also includes dedicated space for the police department use to improve response time and efficiency.
A fourth planned fire station has been put on hold for now due to increases in construction prices, city officials say, and will likely require both ARPA dollars and debt financing for the final proposed station to be completed.
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