Preston Center Fire Station Staying Put
Uploaded by Chris309 to Wikimedia Commons
Way back in the city’s 2006 bond program, voters approved about $8 million for a brand shiny new Fire Station #27, better known to laypersons as the one on the southwest corner of Douglas Avenue and Northwest Highway right next to Preston Center. For the longest time, the project has been in the site selection phase, that part of any new city construction project where no one will tell you anything about anything. At one point, there was talk of putting the station somewhere along Walnut Hill Lane (I think roundabouts Hollow Way Road), but by the time I caught wind of that, the plan had already been given the kibosh, the result of some not-so-enthusiastic neighbors. But no new neighbors will have to raise a stink about the relocation of the firehouse because, well, there will be no new neighbors.
David Trevino, a project manager with the city, said the new 12,000-square-foot facility, will go exactly where the current 41-year-old, 6,000-square-foot one is. The decision is tentative, Trevino said, since it still remains to be seen whether the site can accomodate a design that meets the specs spelled out in the bond. But why stay in exactly the same place?
“Location, location, location,” Trevino said.
I do wonder how much of a consideration cost was. The city already owns the Preston Center land and who knows how much they would have to shell out for a similar parcel nearby.
The station won’t be built anytime soon. The design phase doesn’t begin for another 45 to 60 days and it will take six to eight months to get all the site evaluations, conceptual sketches, etc. finished. Only then will construction begin. But someday, Preston Center, you will get your new fire station.
