After spending eight years working out of a double-wide trailer at a temporary location, firefighters at Station 72 will have a new place to call home.
The fire station construction bond was poised to pass, with a 67.85 percent approval rate as of press time.
“I think it’s great,” said Joe Forkner, a former City Council member and supporter of the bond. “I’m pleased that it passed. I would have understood if it hadn’t, because of the economy right now, but I’m pleased that it did.”
The $4.5 million bond will help pay for the construction of a LEED-certified, three-bay station that can house nine crew members, and will include a decontamination area, protective clothing storage for fire gear and community areas. The new station is slated to be built at the transit center.
The project, which has a total cost of about $8 million, will receive other funding in addition to the bond. The city will contribute $1.5 million and Fire District 10 has pledged $2 million.
Eastside Fire & Rescue has been searching for a permanent location for station 72 since the mid-1980s, and has been through many options. The station was originally planned for the Pickering Place development, where Tully’s sits, but the land was sold because development made it a less-than-ideal site. Next up was the land where the Hilton is located, but the City Council eventually voted against it. A joint venture at Tibbetts Creek Manor failed after that due to wetlands, and the station moved to its temporary location at the end of Maple Street in 2000.
The temporary home, made up of a double-wide trailer and a two-bay station, was given a maximum life-span of eight years. As the city grows, calls to station 72 are predicted to increase substantially, officials said.
Eastside Fire & Rescue Chief Lee Soptich said the foremost reaction around the station to the passing bond has been excitement, especially because the bond came together so quickly.
“It’s very gratifying to see this pass,” he said. “There were a lot of moving parts to this, and a phenomenal group of citizens got behind it and poured their hearts into this. We’ve had so much support and it’s been great.”
Officials will be meeting as early as next week to outline a workchart and develop plans for the new station, Soptich said. A substantial amount of pre-construction work has to be done, such as selecting a bond council and company to do the bonding, meeting with an architect and a construction company, but the department hopes to break ground as early as next spring or summer.
Katie Regan can be reached at kregan@issaquahreporter.com or 391-0363, ext. 5052.
