City negotiating location of new fire station

Plans are ongoing for a 13th fire station in Topeka, and city officials are tight-lipped about the project while negotiations on a location are taking place.

The city's Capital Improvement Plan adopted in April 2017 called for $5,776,261 for Fire Station No. 13 for the S.W. 6th and Fairlawn area of the city with design beginning in 2018. A decision on a recommended location will be made this year, said Molly Hadfield, media relations director for the Cty of Topeka.

Topeka Fire Department Chief Craig Duke said he can't discuss that station until current negotiations have been completed.

"It's at a very crucial point right now," Duke said.

A reader asked #TopCity What? for an update on the project.

According to the CIP, "This project consists of the design and construction of a new, fully furnished high-efficiency Fire Station (#13) and four (4) door apparatus bay to be located within the 6th and Fairlawn area. This facility will be designed and constructed under high-efficiency design guidelines to provide an approximate 5,800-square-foot station with an approximate 6,800-square-foot drive-through apparatus bay."

The CIP adopted in May 2018 called for a similar Fire Station No. 14 at a south Topeka location with design beginning in 2023. The plan also calls for $450,000 each year for renovations of the city's 12 fire stations, the oldest of which was built in 1927 and the youngest in 1996.

Renovations are underway at Fire Station No. 3. Built in 1961 at 318 S.E. Jefferson, that station replaced a station that had been in use since 1882. The station serves East Topeka, parts of Oakland and North Topeka, and the downtown area.

"It wasn't built for 24/7 living," Duke said, noting that renovations to bathrooms and sleeping quarters are designed to make the station more functional and comfortable for firefighters who view the station as a "home away from home."

Plans are underway to complete a major renovation of a fire station every two years.

"In between, we are doing also major work on other ones, like if it needs a roof replaced," Duke said. "We don't want to leave that. It's only just going to get worse."

Updates include replacing boiler systems with HVAC systems, updating electrical systems, installing energy-efficient windows and modernizing all living quarters and bathrooms to accommodate both men and women.

"We want to make sure the facilities are something they can live with and work in," Duke said.

Work on Fire Station No. 3 began a couple weeks ago and is expected to take eight months to complete.

"This was actually on the books before I came here, but when I came here I felt that we needed to get moving ahead with it," Duke said.

He began examining the condition of the facilities and making plans to get them up to date. Fire Station No. 3 is the first of the 12 stations to undergo a major renovation.

"We have to get these facilities fixed, and that's what the city's planning to do," Duke said.