Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
A space needs study completed by an architectural firm having extensive experience with fire stations indicates a need for an addition to the Clarendon Hills station, 316 Park Ave.
FGM Architects, which did the $6,150 study and has designed more than 200 fire stations, provided preliminary cost estimates for three options: building a one-story addition to the existing structure at a cost of $1.6 million, not including the cost of land acquisition of an adjacent bank parking lot; a two-story addition priced at $3.6 million; and building a new facility on a different site for $6 million.
The existing facility, built in 1962, has 6,354 square feet; an addition of 4,405 is recommended, an increase of about 70 percent.
Fire Chief Brian Leahy said a single-story addition is preferred. “The two-story addition, while not requiring land acquisition, is not preferred because it will involve putting in two stairways plus an elevator and raises certain safety concerns for fire personnel,” Leahy said.
“Some of the safety concerns identified by fire station designers include the prevention of injuries while firefighters are rushing down stairways when responding to emergency calls,” he said.
The study states that the department’s administration has outgrown the capacity of the facility. All of the offices are undersized, including one that personnel from several different areas share. The growth of the department has warranted the need for a separate office for training, fire prevention, emergency medical services and the deputy chief functions, the study states.
Other needed expansions and additions, according to the study, include the lobby and radio area, a 10-person conference room for larger meetings, additional bunk room space for potential future expansion or growth in storage needs, a separate entry to the bunk room, a fitness room and increasing the training/meeting room to its original size, allowing for a capacity of 35 to 40 people. The training room has a current capacity of 21.
#1 by danny on June 10, 2015 - 4:53 PM
FDNY stated 25 million to build a new firehouse for rescue 2 in the 10 year plan… construction costs are out of control
#2 by Crabby Milton on June 10, 2015 - 6:14 AM
People don’t look at the facts and big picture. While it’s good to be skeptical about such a project, some often cross the line of bashing every project that public safety propose since many just hate police and fire personnel. Yet some of the same people scream bloody murder when the teachers lounge at a school can’t get it’s new carpet and counter tops and those poor little children will have to make do with the 20 year old locker room.
#3 by ffpm571 on June 9, 2015 - 10:26 PM
Apparently none of the peanut gallery here has seen the size of their station. It is small and built in 1962 for a Volunteer department who had rigs a lot smaller than now. It has been remodeled a few times but there is only so much space in and around the building.
#4 by 0.03 on June 10, 2015 - 7:24 AM
I’ve been there and yes things are packed in there but IMO what the quotes are for either doing the expansion or building a new building is crazy.
#5 by Tom Foley on June 9, 2015 - 7:02 PM
Who doesn’t want a little more space?
The points in the article could all very well be true. But I always love when municipalities hire a firm with a vested interest in building. Do you honestly think the firm was going to come back and say, “no, everything is perfect just as it is. No need to build.”
Years ago at my work a feasibility study was done by a commercial division of Trane for building improvements. While they hit on some obvious things, the section about HVAC was probably the most detailed… go figure, right?
So, if you’re the fire board/commission and you want more space, you hire a firm that will definitely tip things in your favor. Or, you’re blind to the fact that it’s a conflict of interest to hire a firm that specializes in building fire stations.
#6 by 0.03 on June 9, 2015 - 4:24 PM
Where are they getting these building quotes from? 6 million dollars for a whole new firehouse or 3.8 million to put in a second floor. Stop trying to build palaces and build a firehouse.