Rising prices, larger footprint drive cost for new Santa Rosa fire station in Fountaingrove area
Mar. 20—Santa Rosa is set to pay more than
The more detailed cost estimate came to light in newly disclosed public records that specify some of the factors behind the soaring price tag for the new firehouse, which the city insists will deliver more for
The new station's escalating cost — now estimated at about 350% more than its predecessor — is due in large part to dramatically more expensive building materials and labor costs over the past several years, city officials say.
The price tag also has been inflated by the deliberate choice of
Officials say that move will give
"We need to get some sort of permanent fire station up there," said Fire Chief
"We're willing to do whatever we need to do to get it done, but we've got to make that cost reasonable, too," Westrope said. "The cost to build a fire station is just absolutely insane."
The new station would be located at
The decision to build bigger has fueled the price increase, as has a steep rise in labor and materials needed to build the fire station the city wants, according to officials.The evolving estimates of late included a sharp jump in price, from roughly
The bulk of the costs come from construction, as well as grading, building a parking lot and other site improvements.
To design the new station, the city has worked with
Cumming's February study estimated the cost of building a 10,763 square-foot station, including a 2,736 square-foot apparatus bay, at just shy of
Line items big and small make up for those costs, including about
Another
For comparison, a 2013 study by
Nutt noted that the February estimate from
"The city will look for another designer to create construction drawings and get more detailed," Nutt said. "Right now, the detail on that is not something I would build on. It's very preliminary."
The Cumming study and the 2013 look at the Newgate Court station project were provided to The Press Democrat as part of a records request submitted to
The official case for why a bigger station is needed at a different site is laid out in a "qualitative analysis" document authored by Westrope, a 21-year veteran of the fire department who was named its chief on Monday. He's led the agency since the retirement last year of former chief
Westrope's analysis extols the potential benefits of building according to the city's current plan: more space for community gatherings and evacuations, additional room for firefighters to stage during dangerous fire weather and better positioning to cover residents in western Fountaingrove, along with the Chanate and Mendocino avenue corridors, where the city expects multiple large housing projects to be built.
In the process, the analysis gives several reasons why the old Newgate Court station was inadequate for the city's past, present and future needs — and why a much bigger station would be better for the city in the long run.
"The size of the Newgate lot was too small to provide adequate area for defensible space related to a resilient building that is not prone to repetitive damage and its potential use as a temporary evacuation point, community refuge area, or forward command post or staging area," Westrope said Friday in an email.
In a 2020 community survey the city conducted about using
That level of community support "speaks volumes to the council," said Councilman
"The reality that things have changed as far as the cost of land and labor and building materials and everything involved in building a fire station," Sawyer said. "The costs have just gone up exponentially, and that is unfortunate — but it is the reality."
With about
Sawyer said he expects "a very serious conversation" about the fire station and the
"It's hard to argue that that wouldn't be, on almost every level, a reasonable way to use those funds," Sawyer said.
After the Newgate Court station burned in the Tubbs fire, the city spent
"The property had the best frontage, best access and met the needs of the fire department from a response standpoint, and so that's why we ultimately entered into negotiation," Nutt said.
The
If the
Sawyer said he hoped the city didn't drag its feet when it comes to rebuilding
"We need to move as quickly as possible to cover that area that other stations are having to cover now," Sawyer said. "The sooner we get that new firehouse built, the easier it will be on the public safety organization."
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