metro
02-13-2008, 09:04 AM
Bricktown fire station on drawing board
The Journal Record
February 13, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – Plans are in the works for a new fire station on the east end of Bricktown. A city bond issue passed in 2000 funded a police substation in Bricktown and called for the eventual fire station. The city must now complete a land acquisition and exchange with property owner Robert Meinders for about 1.5 acres of land north of Sheridan Avenue and just west of Lincoln Boulevard.
Some of the land in the area is owned by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. James Thompson, assistant city manager, said the plan is in the very early stages and still has a ways to go before the station is built. Thompson pointed to the police substation at 219 E. Main St., which was built for $2.1 million and opened last year, as a model for the quality of the fire station the city hopes to build.
G. Keith Bryant, Oklahoma City fire chief, said the main purpose of the station is to enhance public safety in and around Bricktown.“We want to complement the area as unobtrusively as possible,” Bryant said. “It is preliminary right now; it’s just basically getting off the ground.”
Bryant said Station 6, at NE Eighth Street and Lincoln Boulevard, will move to Bricktown. Station 4, which is just south of the Ford Center, will be moved to the far northeast quadrant of the city as part of the bond issue when the Bricktown station is complete.
Other nearby stations include Station 1, at NW Fifth Street and Shartel Avenue, and Station 5, near NW 23rd Street and Broadway Avenue. Bricktown merchants Chad Huntington and Avis Scaramucci expressed concern about the noise level a station could bring, and concern about firetrucks barreling through the crowded Bricktown streets responding to calls in the downtown area.
Bryant said most of the station’s calls are north and east of Bricktown. He said routes for response by the fire department and noise levels would all be taken in to consideration as the plan moves forward. Thompson stressed that all plans are tentative at this point and awaiting the completion of the land acquisition and property exchange. He said those acquisition plans could be taken to the City Council as early as next week. The next step will be finalizing architecture and engineering contracts followed by a preliminary report.
http://journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labskc%20-%20firestation%20-%20JP.jpg
James Thompson, assistant city manager, right, talks about the possibility of a future fire station being built in Bricktown while Tom Anderson, with the city manager’s office, left, looks on Tuesday during a meeting of the Bricktown Association. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts
The Journal Record
February 13, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – Plans are in the works for a new fire station on the east end of Bricktown. A city bond issue passed in 2000 funded a police substation in Bricktown and called for the eventual fire station. The city must now complete a land acquisition and exchange with property owner Robert Meinders for about 1.5 acres of land north of Sheridan Avenue and just west of Lincoln Boulevard.
Some of the land in the area is owned by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. James Thompson, assistant city manager, said the plan is in the very early stages and still has a ways to go before the station is built. Thompson pointed to the police substation at 219 E. Main St., which was built for $2.1 million and opened last year, as a model for the quality of the fire station the city hopes to build.
G. Keith Bryant, Oklahoma City fire chief, said the main purpose of the station is to enhance public safety in and around Bricktown.“We want to complement the area as unobtrusively as possible,” Bryant said. “It is preliminary right now; it’s just basically getting off the ground.”
Bryant said Station 6, at NE Eighth Street and Lincoln Boulevard, will move to Bricktown. Station 4, which is just south of the Ford Center, will be moved to the far northeast quadrant of the city as part of the bond issue when the Bricktown station is complete.
Other nearby stations include Station 1, at NW Fifth Street and Shartel Avenue, and Station 5, near NW 23rd Street and Broadway Avenue. Bricktown merchants Chad Huntington and Avis Scaramucci expressed concern about the noise level a station could bring, and concern about firetrucks barreling through the crowded Bricktown streets responding to calls in the downtown area.
Bryant said most of the station’s calls are north and east of Bricktown. He said routes for response by the fire department and noise levels would all be taken in to consideration as the plan moves forward. Thompson stressed that all plans are tentative at this point and awaiting the completion of the land acquisition and property exchange. He said those acquisition plans could be taken to the City Council as early as next week. The next step will be finalizing architecture and engineering contracts followed by a preliminary report.
http://journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labskc%20-%20firestation%20-%20JP.jpg
James Thompson, assistant city manager, right, talks about the possibility of a future fire station being built in Bricktown while Tom Anderson, with the city manager’s office, left, looks on Tuesday during a meeting of the Bricktown Association. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts