The station will be located on Esperanza Boulevard just off Highway 46 and will serve the eastern portion of the service area.
The overview
Fire Chief Manny Casarez said the new facility will be multifunctional, including a community room, a museum room and a library kiosk. For firefighters, the facility is constructed with amenities to make overnight shifts and long stays more comfortable.
Casarez said staff wanted the building to be future-proof, leading to the inclusion of environmental design elements. This includes supporting the One Water initiative, which views all water as a unified resource, promoting sustainable practices to meet current and future water needs, according to the city website.
“This is truly a biophilic design, and everything that we do, we are trying to bring nature into the building,” Casarez said.
The total cost estimate of the project as of the meeting was around $20.95 million. This cost does not include the redesign of Esparanza Boulevard, which is needed to allow turns into the fire station.
At full service, nine dorms will be available for firefighters. When the facility opens, a crew of four individuals is planned at each fire station.
“We are working on studying the call volume, and where those hotspots are and what types of apparatus will be placed at each station,” Casarez said.
Moving forward
The final steps of the process before the fire station can be constructed include:
- Developing the timeline
- Finalizing the roadwork design
- Submitting the full set of plans
- Opening bids to contractors
