Headed north on Ronald Reagan, just past MorningStar and Santa Rita South, drivers reaching the crest of the hill are greeted with the can’t-miss sign of explosive growth as Fire Station 2 rises high above the open spaces on the west side of the road.
Williamson County ESD No. 4 is about four months from taking up residence in its second station, one that will be ready to serve the eastern end of the district as well as grow with it.
As Chief Anthony Lincoln walks the site and checks out the progress, he shakes his head at what looks like a giant facility, but he has to remind himself why it is all taking place.
As with many real estate decisions, location was critical for the ESD.
A fire station requires a lot of space, and a station being built to accommodate needs where growth is happening at a fast pace must plan for space it may not need today.
The 11,500-square-foot station is coming in at about $400 per square foot, and Lincoln said that number has already gone up for other local departments beginning new projects.
“There are some going in now at $425 per square foot already since we bid this,” he said.
The building looks much bigger from the outside due to the higher roof and expansive space in the bays and common area room, but overall space is not dramatically more than the current station.
The 14-foot bay doors will be red and open to each side rather than roll up like most traditional firehouse bay doors. Inside, there is room for a variety of vehicles, including an eventual ladder truck when needed.
“This place has some bigger fans and exhaust systems that come on to pull the diesel exhaust out when you crank up the trucks,” Lincoln said.
There is a room on the south side of the building off the main truck bays where bunker gear will be stored.
Next to the bunker gear storage area is a workout room.
Space has been included for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) should the need arise, but there is not currently an agreement in place with Williamson County to station EMS at the location.
An area designed for EMS includes a truck bay, storage, office space and two bedrooms can be left out of future projects if the same plans are used again.
Lincoln said there is no fear the facility will seem empty.
In the living space, there are 10 bedrooms and four full bathrooms, and are being built to eventually include some technology to help firefighters rest on shift.
At the north end of the station, near the main entrance, is office space, a conference room and another unique feature.
At station one, Lincoln said they get about one medical walk up per week on average.
At the center of the station is the main common area – a huge open space for relaxing, cooking and eating.
The kitchen space will have food locker rooms with storage and refrigerators for each shift off the common area.
Having a place that is both comfortable and functional is critical, and making it as nice as possible is a bonus.
The fire station sits on 3.052 acres donated by Santa Rita, on the west side of Ronald Reagan Boulevard north of Hwy. 29. The land is valued at $130,680 per acre, but will cost the ESD only $100 due to the title company.
During the initial planning, the goal was to keep the cost of the new station under a $4.5 million budget. Rising construction prices over the last two years made that difficult, but through meetings with the architects and contractor, the ESD was able to make some cuts through value engineering to get the cost down to about $4.7 million.
Lincoln said the anticipated opening date is currently late May.