City Council voted unanimously on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, to negotiate an interim agreement with David A. Nice Builders to demolish the current fire station at 440 N. Boundary St. and build a new 31,000-square-foot station on that lot.
City Council will consider approval of the interim agreement at the February meeting. This agreement allows the design work to begin. Architectural firms Guernsey-Tingle Architects and Stewart-Cooper-Newell Architects are part of the David A. Nice design-build team for this project.
City staff expects to present a comprehensive agreement to City Council in July. That agreement will include the final pricing and design elements of the station. Once a comprehensive agreement is approved, demolition can proceed in the months that follow.
“Our community had the great fortune of receiving excellent proposals for our new fire station,” Mayor Douglas Pons said. “The city engaged in an extensive process with good input and participation from the fire department, the Architectural Review Board, the Planning Commission, the City Manager’s Office, and the community. I commend everyone for putting forward the good effort to get us to this point, and we look forward to working with David A. Nice Builders on this important project.”
The bid solicitation began in August and yielded seven proposals. Three contractors – David A. Nice Builders, Centennial, and Henderson Inc. — advanced to the last phase of the process, which included releasing their conceptual drawings to the public, the Architectural Review Board, the Planning Commission, and firefighters for input. David A. Nice Builders was the most preferred in all these reviews.
City Council considered feedback from these stakeholders, the function of the station design, the appearance, the cost, the team’s experience, and previous experience with similar projects before making the selection. Project management consultant MBP assisted the city in this selection process.
The City solicited bids for the design and build of the new fire station through the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act. The PPEA Process allowed City Council to choose its preferred proposal for the design and build.