A million-dollar make-over set to begin this week will more than triple the size of Springfield Township’s No.2 fire station, adding new amenities and much needed space to the crowded building.
The expansion will include the addition of a 1,532 square-foot multi-purpose room, plenty of new storage space, and a special hose-drying room.
Two additional bays will be added for a total of five, and contractors will knock out the station’s rear wall and install new doors that will give three bays drive-through access.
Instead of backing into the station, which sits on Dixie Highway near Rattalee Lake Road, trucks will approach the station from a side driveway and pull into the garage from the rear.
While the larger drive-through bays are a matter of practicality, the expansion is also relevant to firefighter moral, said Chief Charlie Oaks.
‘A lot of times the firefighters come back from a call and they’re half-froze and everything else,? said Oaks, who joined the department in 1975 and took over the chief’s position in 1997. ‘The way things are now, there’s no way we can reload a fire truck in the bay, so we have to leave them outside with the doors open.?
It will be nice, he said, for the firefighters to reload inside a warm station.
Currently, only a few inches remain between the back of the truck and the wall when the tanker is backed in.
The project is expected to cost $1,097,100. About half?$500,000’was borrowed from Oxford Bank. The Fire Fund 2007 operating budget will cover the balance.
The expansion, Oaks said, has been necessary for about 10 years.
When complete, the station will serve as the department’s main storage facility.
Offices for the chief and secretary are in the works, as is an area for mechanical work and a work/radio/dispatch room.
Although no new kitchen or restroom facilities have been planned, contractors will install rough plumbing for a future kitchenette, as well as additional bathrooms if in-house living quarters become necessary.
‘We take a lot of pride in our fire stations,? Oaks said. ‘If you’ve got more room without having stuff stacked up everywhere, naturally you can keep it cleaner and neater looking.?
All in all, the expansion will tack an additional 8,241 square feet to the existing station, for a finished size of nearly 12,000 square feet.
Construction was set to begin May 1, or before, and is projected to take about 6 months.
The Springfield Township board appointed Supervisor Collin Walls and Trustees Dave Hopper and Dennis Vallid to an expansion committee to oversee the project and provide monthly progress reports to the board.
Although station No. 1 in downtown Davisburg is smaller and more crowded, expanding station No. 2 made sense from several viewpoints.
First, said Oaks, it gets more use.
‘The majority of our calls are generated on this side of the township,? said Oaks. ‘Of about 700 calls that came in last year, about 500 came from out here.?
The station is also used for homeowner association meetings, the department’s twice-monthly firefighter training meetings, and as a polling place during elections.
‘It has to be kept in use as a fire station while major renovations are going on,? said Oaks, noting that he and his crew will likely engage in the frequent moving of supplies and other materials to keep equipment out of the builders way, and out of the elements.
But once the renovations are complete, the fire fighting equipment ? and the voters ? will have protection from the elements on election days.
‘Fire Station No. 2 is the only facility that’s a viable polling place for precinct two, and it’s far too cramped and small, even for the August primary,? said Springfield Township Clerk Nancy Strole, noting that general elections require the fire trucks to be moved out of the bays so voting booths, tabulators and voters can be moved in. ‘Having a multi purpose room that will be ideal. We won’t have to worry about people lined up outside the building.?
Strole also acknowledged that election inspectors, who commonly work 15-16 hours on Election Day, were sure to appreciate the improvements, as well.
About 1,800 of the township’s registered voters live in the precinct.
If there’s another expansion to the department after the current project is complete’and there are no such plans at this time’it would be the addition of a small station near Andersonville Road and Farley Road.
‘That’s one little section of the township that’s over five miles from the fire station,? said Oaks. ‘So we might put a smaller station out there sometime in the future.?
But for now, the chief is focused on keeping things running smoothly during the expansion.