Fire Stations Plans Approved, Construction Could Begin in Summer

If Bids Come In Under Estimate, Construction Could Begin In Summer...

Courtesy Photo This architect’s drawing shows of one of three nearly identical fire stations Springdale plans to build. Stations No. 2 and No. 3 will be replaced and a new Station No. 7 added near Har-Ber Meadows.
Courtesy Photo This architect’s drawing shows of one of three nearly identical fire stations Springdale plans to build. Stations No. 2 and No. 3 will be replaced and a new Station No. 7 added near Har-Ber Meadows.

SPRINGDALE -- City officials will try to perform a magic trick when building new fire stations, trying to pull three $3.1 million buildings out of a $7.7 million hat.

The construction bid could come in under the estimates, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.

At A Glance

Springdale Fire Stations

Station No. 2 is moving to Don Tyson Parkway between Cambridge and Thompson streets. Station No. 3 is moving to Glass Drive. The new Station No. 7 is planned for the south side of Harber Avenue, east of Bella Toscana Street.

• No. 1 and Headquarters: 471 Holcomb St.

• No. 2: 1207 Dyer St.

• No. 3: 403 Sanders

• No. 4: 3420 Elm Springs Road

• No. 5: 1776 E. Robinson Ave.

• No. 6: 1623 S. 48th St.

Source: City Of Springdale

"We're hoping the economies of building all three stations with the same plan and having a construction manager will help lower the price," Sprouse said. "We'll know when we get the bids."

Officials had $8.5 million from a bond sale to buy land and build the stations, said Alan Pugh, city director of engineering. Voters approved the bonds that will be paid back by a sales tax.

The city has spent $845,000 to buy land and design the stations, Pugh said. That leaves $7.7 million to build the stations, he said.

The cost would have been more without a donation by the Tyson Family and Tyson Foods for one station location and site preparation, Sprouse said.

The $3.1 million for each station is an estimate by the architect and includes some site preparation, Pugh said. The estimated cost of the first design was $5 million each, he said. Some exterior features were changed, as well as some flooring to save money, Irwin said.

The stations will be built with three bays, said Mike Irwin, fire chief.

"We wanted to be able to grow with the city," Irwin said. "We don't want to be in the same situation we are now."

Stations No. 2 and No. 3 have one bay each, not leaving room for the possible assignment of an ambulance or some other fire apparatus in the future, Irwin said.

Station No. 3 will be relocated from Sanders Avenue to the end of Glass Drive, a private drive off Thompson Street between Randall Wobbe Lane and County Line Road. No. 2 will be moved from Dyer Street to Don Tyson Parkway between Thompson and Cambridge streets. No. 7, an additional station, will be built on Harber Avenue west of Hellstern Middle School.

The plans for each site were approved Tuesday by the Springdale Planning Commission. A resident of the Harber Avenue area, Jerry Hanlin, questioned Irwin about how much noise the station would create. Hanlin lives at 251 Bella Toscana St., behind where the back entrance of the station will be, according to blueprints of the project.

Fire engines don't start up their sirens immediately when they leave the station, Irwin said, unless needed. At night, the siren would probably not be needed to get out on the street, he said.

"I'm not saying we won't use the siren all the time, because we'll have to when there is traffic," Irwin said. "We do try to be good neighbors."

State law requires the siren to be on when fire engines are running with their emergency lights are on, Irwin said.

The stations are designed as drive-throughs, where engines leave out the front and pull in the back, said Patsy Christie, planning director.

Originally, plans called for an ambulance to be added at Station No. 7, Sprouse said. That addition will have to wait, he said.

"We will try to go as long as we can with four ambulances," Sprouse said.

How soon the fifth ambulance will be added depends on call volumes and if the city is able to pull back its ambulance service to cover the city only. Springdale ambulances respond to rural areas in parts of Benton and Washington counties, as well as Elm Springs, Tontitown, Bethel Heights, Lowell and parts of Johnson.

The city hopes to take bids by the end of the month with construction expected to start in early summer, if bids are good, Pugh said. If bids are high, the City Council will be asked to cover the cost from the city's Capital Improvement Program fund, Irwin said.

Construction is expected to take 12 to 15 months, Irwin said.

"We're hoping to be done in a year," Irwin said.

NW News on 04/05/2014

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