Sugar Land City Council approves architectural contract for $10M public safety training facility

A $727,500 design contract for Phase 2 of a new public safety training facility was approved by Sugar Land City Council at the May 3 meeting, according to a May 4 news release from the city.

City Council picked Houston-based company Martinez Architects to design the public safety training facility, which will be located west of the Sugar Land Regional Airport's runway, on city-owned property, according to city officials.

The project is funded by the city's general obligation bond, which is a $90.76 million initiative approved by voters in November 2019 that focuses on drainage, roads and public safety. These were identified to be the three most pressing matters to residents, according to previous citizen satisfaction surveys.

Of the bond, $10 million will be used to build Phase 2 of the public safety training facility, which will include a training building and a classroom/apparatus bay building, according to the news release. The apparatus bay, used to house firefighting vehicles, will accommodate six bays for vehicles as well as space for various forces of firefighting equipment.

The facility will also have room to provide training in a covered environment. Training will include incident command simulation training, emergency medical services training and vehicle training on fire engines, ambulances, motorcycles and public works vehicles, per the release.

Additionally, improvements will include on-site drainage, restrooms, outdoor classrooms, electricity services and a septic system. Future phases will feature multiple burn buildings for training and expansion of the shooting ranges, according to the release.

The architectural design is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.