The City of Westfield will move to the next step with plans to construct two new fire stations, with aggressive timelines that would have those facilities substantially completed in 2025 and 2026.
The new Station 84 will be built on 191st Street, between Tomlinson Road and Chad Hittle Drive.
The two-story, 20,000-square-foot structure will be designed for 12 personnel and will include three full apparatus bays, living and sleeping quarters, and a museum that will be open to the public.
Negotiations for the land acquisition of the site for Station 85 are still ongoing, but the proposed location is near Ind. 32 and Centennial Road/W. 31st Street.
The one-story, 16,000-square-foot building is expected to house 10 fire personnel and would include living quarters, sleeping quarters and offices, as well as three apparatus bays.
The Board of Public Works and Safety met March 13 to finalize a BOT agreement for construction of Station 84. A BOT agreement is a proposal to build, operate and transfer via public-private partnership for the development, design and construction of public facilities, provided for by Indiana law.
Because of the high response for requests for qualifications in January, the city contracted with Bravia Services to assist in the review of those proposals and to score the responses to help the city’s selection committee narrow it down.
That committee unanimously recommended Envoy Construction be awarded the contract as the developer/contractor of Westfield Fire Department Station 84.
There were no comments at a public hearing held March 13.
The board also approved a revised design agreement with Studio Axis, the architect/designer of the project. That revision will also include plans for Station 85.
“Since they are going to be in such close proximity, it upsets the workflow of everything and the process to get things done in a timely manner,” Fire Chief Rob Gaylor said. “So, we’d like to extend that agreement with Studio Axis to cover Station 84, the final couple steps, then start that again with Station 85.”
Gaylor said there will be cost savings by combining the two projects.
The bid process for Station 84 should be complete by late spring, with construction starting potentially in July and a completion date of October 2025.
Construction of Station 85 could begin as early as March 2025, with an end date of April 2026.
“That’s substantial completion. That does not mean we’ll be in there and operating, that’s a goal, I think it’s feasible, but that’s substantial completion with those dates,” Gaylor said.
The total cost of the combined construction is $7.5 million in both hard and soft costs, to be paid for via bonds.
