BOISE -- The Boise Fire Department and the City of Boise are announcing plans to improve several fire structures.
Voters passed the $17 million fire bond in November after it failed in 2013.
The decision involved no raise in taxes, thanks to extra money from an old firefighter retirement fund. Now, Rob Bousfield with Boise Public Works says plans are in place to improve the rundown facilities.
"We do recognize this is our shot to make it right," said Bousfield.
The city hopes to remodel Station 4 on Ustick Road, along with Station 9 off of State Street.
They also plan to rebuild Station 5 in the same location downtown and buy new property to rebuild Station 8 nearby.
In addition, they're hoping to purchase land at Overland and Atlantic if the city council approves the deal at their meeting Tuesday night.
"As they looked at the best location for Fire Station 8, we think this location will improve response times. Really, it's a better fit for where the other stations exist," said Bousfield.
As for design, they want every look to focus on location.
"Each one really needs to be unique to the neighborhood and fit in," said Bousfield. "They will have similar needs on the inside, but will have similar features but even those will house different types of fire equipment, etc."
The other big need is a new training facility. The city hopes to build the $8.2 million center on land they already own on Joplin Road, near Cloverdale and Chinden.
The city is looking for one vendor for the training center, and another for all four stations. They hope there will be high interest in the projects from local firms with experience in these types of buildings.
But, Bousfield says they realize costs could exceed the fire bond amount by more than $3 million.
"We hope that the higher cost number is the worst case cost. So, our strategy is were going to try our hardest to design down and managed to bond level but we do recognize there may be a good chance we can't do that," said Bousfield.
The city says the extra cost would probably come from the city's general fund, and would not involve a tax increase.
They're now focused on finding plenty of interest from local firms in hopes of building structures that will support the city for decades.
"This is the chance the stations we hope will be here 30, 40, 50 years from now," said Bousfield.
The proposals for the fire stations are due by December 17. The proposals for the new training facility are due by December 19.
Designs plans should be underway by early 2015, with construction on the first two stations scheduled to be complete by 2017.
Here's a breakdown of the estimated costs:
- Training facility: $8.2 million
- Fire station #4 remodel: $3 million
- Fire station #9 remodel: $1.7 million
- Fire station #5 replacement: $4.3 million
- Fire station #8 replacement: $3.7 million
- Total estimated cost: $20.9 million
- Fire bond: $17 million
