We all know how important a neighborhood fire station is. Now you can see what our new one will look like.
Check out the designs for Fire Station No. 9, at 3829 Linden Ave N., which is having an open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 15. Invitations were mailed out to approximately 15,994 households and businesses in the fire station service area.
This replaces the existing station, which is “in poor condition due to its age. Replacement would be more cost-effective than remodel.” Station 9 will not only be rebuilt on the site of the current station, it will expand from 5,700 square-feet to approximately 8,500 square-feet.
It will also demolish the Annex on the south side of the site, built in 1921. In July 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Board voted 5 to 4 in favor of designating the Annex as a Landmark, which was one vote short of what was needed for that designation.
The replacement has been a long time coming – really since November 2003, when 69 percent of Seattle voter approved the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy. Starting in 2004, the nine-year program planned several uses for levy proceeds and other funding. Among them: upgrading, renovating, or replacing 32 neighborhood fire stations – including our own Fire Station No.9.
The station, built in 1954, the station houses one engine company, as well as compressed air equipment and a truck to deliver air cylinders. The new two-story facility will have two bays to house the engine and compressed air supply unit.
In January, approximately 175 neighbors attended the community open house to see the schematic design sketches by Mithun. The Seattle Design Commission approved this phase of the project. The designs neighbors will see at the upcoming open house will be more developed.
Neighbors at that meeting, said Christina Faine, Fire Levy Communications Officer, “Let us know about their interest in sustainable features, bold art and a station with architectural character. In response, the architects have been reworking the building façade. Additionally, the artist, Peter Reiquam, is creating his art proposal based on community feedback. The Public Art Advisory Committee approved the public art piece in a review on February 16. Different sustainable solutions, such as a rain water catchment system, are under consideration.”
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011 and completed by mid-2012. Firefighters could begin operating out of the new facility in late 2012.
In the interim, Faine said, fire crews will be relocated to an interim facility on city-owned property, located at N. 35th St. and Interlake Ave. N.