The landscape of Marthasville’s Main Street is a little changed this week, after a historic house was demolished to make way for a new fire station.
The Marthasville Volunteer Fire …
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The landscape of Marthasville’s Main Street is a little changed this week, after a historic house was demolished to make way for a new fire station.
The Marthasville Volunteer Fire Department removed the vacant house as part of plans to replace its Station 1 facility on East Main Street. The house was adjacent to Station 1 and was previously purchased in anticipation of construction.
Marthasville Fire Chief Jeff Backhaus said the district is still in the planning phase for the new building.
“We are in the middle of picking an architect at this time, and hope to be out to bid by January. We’re hoping to start construction by March or April at the latest,” Backhaus said. He estimated construction could take up to a year once it begins.
Voters in April approved a $1.75 million bond issue to build a new Station 1 and replace outdated rescue equipment.
Backhaus said there won’t be an exact estimate of how much the construction will cost until final plans have been drafted. He said the fire district is looking for the most cost effective building to suit its needs.
“We know what we want, we know what size we want, but the offices and administration side has not been laid out 100 percent,” Backhaus said.
The most exciting change, he said, will just be having more room.
“(We’ll have) space to work on our trucks, space to train in the bays when it’s cold,” Backhaus commented, adding that trucks and equipment have outgrown their space. “The fire service is so much more than fire nowadays. Water rescues, trench rescues — there’s so much specialized skills and specialized equipment, and you need space to put it all.”
He said the district also hopes to build its own emergency operations center and dispatching equipment into the new station. Having a more energy-efficient building and new technology for regional training programs hosted in Marthasville will also be pluses.
When construction is underway, some of the vehicles based at Station 1 will be moved to other locations. But Backhaus said the fire department’s two primary trucks will remain stationed in Marthasville throughout the process.
