The city’s aging, downtown fire station has significant structural issues and will likely eventually be demolished, city officials say, but where to put its firefighters and their equipment on a long-term, temporary basis remains unsettled.
In October, after a building inspection found that Fire Station 1 — a mostly unreinforced, concrete masonry building dating from the 1950s — could be unsafe in an earthquake, the station’s firefighters and equipment were relocated to the city’s Station 3 on Orpheus Avenue in the city’s northwest region. That move was billed as a short-term, temporary option.
This week, city Fire Chief Josh Gordon told the City Council that Station 1’s firefighters and equipment should relocate on a long-term temporary basis to the newly opened Pacific View Art Center property on downtown’s Third Street. He suggested putting a temporary building on the northwest side of the art center’s property and estimated that would cost roughly $1.9 million.
“Our goal is to not meet that $1.9 million — to do it for cheaper,” he told the council.
After the city replaces Station 1 with a new building, firefighters could move out of the temporary structure at Pacific View and it could house art center activities, or be relocated to a different site, he said.
Council members said they weren’t convinced that the Pacific View location was the best option, saying that proposal sounded costly and the temporary station might adversely impact arts center activities.
“My concern is, what else did we look at,” asked Councilmember Joy Lyndes, who has been an avid art center supporter.
Mayor Tony Kranz said his “biggest hesitation” was the nearly $2 million price tag for what ultimately would be a temporary building. He suggested, and council members backed, the idea of creating a council subcommittee to explore other options beyond what the fire department had considered. The subcommittee, which will consist of Kranz and Councilmember Bruce Ehlers, was tasked with crafting a list of other suggestions before the council’s mid-December meeting.
Gordon told the council members that the current Fire Station 1 is located in a perfect spot and it would be best to have the replacement temporary site nearby.
“Fire Station 1 is right in the middle of our highest call volumes … so it’s in a great place,” he said.
Among other things, it’s west of the railroad tracks, so it can respond to Coast Highway 101 emergencies without worrying about train-cased delays, Gordon said. That’s also a benefit of the Pacific View site, he said.
In addition to the Pacific View proposal, Gordon said the department considered a site at Moonlight Beach and one in the lower City Hall parking lot where there’s an electric vehicle charging station. They also considered staying at the Station 3 site.
Station 3 is east of the railroad tracks, so there could be issues accessing downtown, Gordon said. Also, the station normally houses four people per shift, and it’s now struggling to handle seven, plus the extra fire vehicles. Because of the addition of Fire Station 1’s equipment, one of Fire Station 3’s backup vehicles now must park outside, Gordon said.
And, Station 3 is farther away from downtown, so that is already increasing call response times, he said.
Using the Moonlight Beach location would be a problem because that proposed site doesn’t have utility connections and installing them would be costly, Gordon said. Also, there would be more building security issues and the temporary station would take up public parking spots — something the state Coastal Commission won’t like, he said.
His final option, the lower City Hall parking lot proposal, also lacks easy access to water or sewer lines; it’s east of the railroad tracks; and backing fire trucks out onto busy Vulcan Avenue would be challenging, he said.
