Dexter Village Council explores fire station construction costs
The Dexter Village Council received some realistic estimates on the cost of building a new fire station Monday night. Consulting architect Rich Henes showed council members a list of comparable fire stations built in the last 10 years
Estimates for space needs for a proposed Dexter Fire Station range from 5,000 square feet to just over 8,000 square feet with a budget of $1.3 million.
"We're looking at what the Fire Department needs to function as it is right now," Henes said.
In his square footage estimate, Henes allocated space for four fire truck bays at a total of 2,800 square feet, along with an additional 5,300 square feet that would include exercise and training rooms, a locker room, showers, sleeping facilities, a kitchen, a lounge and private offices.
"We now at least have a ball park to look at," said trustee Paul Cousins.
Village President Shawn Keough, who said the current fire station lacks sufficient space for new equipment and for personnel, zeroed in on Henes' comparison to the Superior Township Fire Station, which Keough called one of the nicest looking stations he has seen. Henes said that station was built in 2005. It is 10,500 square feet and the total cost was $2,053,469.
Other stations on the list ranged from a low cost of $2.5 million for a 12,300 square foot station built in Oakland County's Lyon Township in 2000 to a high cost of $4.9 million for a 20,540 square foot station built in Madison Heights in 2004.
The next step is for the village's facilities committee to look at Henes' report. The Village Council plans to resume discussion of the fire station at its next meeting Oct. 11.
The village is looking at building a new fire station in 2013, and there are two leading locations: at the site of the current station at 8140 Main Street, or on a 4-acre piece of property purchased this year on Dan Hoey Road between the Industrial Park and Walkabout Creek Apartments.
Village Manager Donna Dettling said the village would have to know the cost of a proposed fire station in order to structure a bond to pay for it.
Comments
SemperFi
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 10:57 a.m.
The Dan Hoey location would give quick access to Baker Rd or Dex-A2 Rd. If there's an emergency during the morning rush, it would take an inordinate amount of time to navigate the congestion on Main St. Also, to where would the Fire Station relocate during constuction of a new facility on the current site? The downside to the Dan Hoey location is the increased response time to the west side. The east side is already serviced by the Scio Twnsp station on Zeeb Rd.
Indicat
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 : 9:45 a.m.
My vote is for the new location. It amazes me that fire engines can safely get out of their current location with the traffic that builds up at Dexter-Chelsea Road and the bridge.