By John Stearns
Wichita Business Journal – October 8, 2013
A nearly decade long project to replace six of nine fire stations in the sprawling Sedgwick County Fire District 1 is winding down.
Work is about a third complete on the last station, Station No. 34 in Haysville, and work will wrap up there in March or April.
“It’s a very good feeling,” says Gary Curmode, Sedgwick County fire chief.
He says the best thing about the six new stations is that 78 percent of the district’s population will be within five miles of a fire station — a number that was only 47 percent before the replacement project began.
“We put them where they were going to affect the greatest populace,” Curmode says.
The new stations also lowered homeowner’s insurance premiums for a large percentage of residents of the district, he says.
The district encompasses about 621 square miles, or about 62 percent of Sedgwick County.
The project to replace the stations was slowed by about three years because of the economy, Curmode says.
Work resumed last year, with the new Station No. 36 at 5055 S. Oliver, which opened a month ago. It replaced a station at 63rd Street South and Rock Road.
Snodgrass & Sons Construction Co. Inc. of Wichita is building the Haysville station, which was designed by Kraybill Architect of Wichita and replaces a station at 71st Street South and West Street. Snodgrass also built the Oliver station, but not the other four.
The 12,130-square-foot Haysville station is costing $1.833 million, or $151.16 per square foot, “which is a bargain,” Curmode says.
The Oliver station, at 9,700 square feet, cost $1.65 million.
Curmode thanked the Sedgwick County Commission and county manager for their foresight on the six-station project.
“It was a very strong vision they had,” he says. “The taxpayers are going to be very happy with this.”
The other four stations that were built were:
• No. 32 and administrative offices at I-135 and 77th Street North in Park City.
• No. 33 at Maize Road and 53rd Street North in Maize.
• No. 35 at 199th Street West and U.S. 54 in Goddard.
• No. 39, on 263rd Street West a half-mile north of MacArthur Road, near Lake Afton.
The three stations not replaced are well-maintained and range in age from about 15 to 40 years, Curmode says.
“At some point in the future, they will need to be replaced,” he says.
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