By Roy Eaton | Published Thursday, December 11, 2008
Plans for Decatur's new fire station were unveiled for the city council Monday in a presentation by architect Randall Scott and Fire Chief Mike Richardson.
The 15,000-square-foot building is planned for the southeast intersection of State and Thompson streets in south Decatur near the police and building services buildings.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Scott explained how the new station uses many design elements of an earlier downtown fire station. He called the idea "contextualism."
The new station, expected to cost about $3 million, will feature three drive-through bays to accommodate six fire trucks and one half-bay to house another truck. The station will face State Street.
The facility will also include a day room, kitchen and dining facilities for firefighters, a training room to accommodate 30 people, bunk rooms and space for bunker gear and other equipment storage. Also included will be offices for fire administration and the fire marshal.
The structure will be built with steel framing and have a stucco and cast stone exterior. "We didn't use much cast stone because of the cost factor," Scott told the council. The building will have a steel roof.
He said the building will meet all current environmental standards. "It's a sustainable green building," Scott said.
Scott said the final plans and construction documents should be ready by mid-March with bidding to follow, and the council could award a construction contract in April. "It will take about 12 months to build," he said.
Richardson said there was no future expansion planned for the new station. "We will need to build a second station before you would need to expand this one," he said. "I think we have a good balance for our primary station."
City Manager Brett Shannon said that any subsequent stations would not need to be as large as the new central station. There would be no need, for example, for duplicate fire administration and training facilities.
In response to a question from Councilman Randy Parker on when a second station would be needed, Richardson said that will depend on growth patterns of the city.
"We can go a few more years. At some point we will have to have a second station, and that's why I didn't want to overdo the apparatus space in this building," Richardson said.
Scott told the council that the new station could be going out for bid at a good time. "Construction costs are going down," he said.
"We're anxious to get started," said Mayor Joe Lambert. "I would like to see it built in my lifetime."
