Building committee approves plans that include a third bay which will go to Board of Finance next month

Architect Chris Nardi of Silver Petrucelli Associates presents to Firehouse 3 Building Committee members at Wednesday's meeting. | David Fortier

Posted By: David Fortier December 28, 2023

By David Fortier

The Firehouse 3 Building Committee voted unanimously to send a modified proposal, which includes a third bay, for a new firehouse in Forestville to the Board of Finance.

“Before we go to the next item, I want to thank you all for your collaboration on this,” Sean Moore, chair, said at the conclusion of the vote, “This is why we are all in the room and I think the process went pretty well.”

Specifically, the vote that was passed was for an 8,700 sq. ft. facility at the cost $900 sq. ft. totaling $7.83 million, which is more than the $6.1 the city has already set aside for the project.

The plan that will be presented to the Board of Finance will include a third bay, which was not in the plan that was presented by architect Chris Nardi of Silver Petrucelli Associates for consideration at the beginning of the meeting.

Nardi was tasked with reducing the original 10,300 sq. ft. plan at last month’s meeting to bring the project back on budget. Costs for the project have ballooned from $600 to $900 a square foot since project was first introduced.

Some of the more significant reductions in Nardi’s latest plan included eliminating the bay, a mezzanine, two bathrooms in living quarters and a corridor, and at the same time, reducing the size of the bays, bunk rooms, exercise room, day room, kitchen and the area for mechanicals and electricity.

In a letter to committee members, dated Dec. 12, the architect stated, “This is the most we felt we could reasonably reduce without eliminating additional program.”

The footage in the project latest iteration had been reduced from 10,300 to 7,560 sq. ft. By the end of the meeting, with the addition of the bay and other considerations, the square footage was increased to 8,700 sq. ft.

What remains are more discussions between the architect and fire chief to work together to refine the exact apportionment of space as it applies to specific functions for the next meeting.

One of the issues that adding back a third bay addresses is what to do with the old firehouse. Without the addition of the bay, the city would have had to maintain the building and firefighters would have had to spend time with equipment concerns at the old facility.

Fire Chief Rick Hart had estimated that costs for the city would have been as much as $12,000 over the year.

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