Modernizing Beulah's Fire Station: What's the Timeline, What's Being Designed into the Facility?

The project to modernize Beulah’s Fire Station is moving forward now, full speed ahead.

The Board of County Commissioners has purchased the property in Beulah where the station currently sits, and the county has put out a request for letters of interest (RLI) to engage a firm to design the improvements at this site.  The notice of RLI was published and the window of time for submissions from interested firms has now closed, as of this past Tuesday, May 5^th.

WHAT WAS IN THE REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST—AND WHAT WILL THE REMODELED STATION HAVE IN TERMS OF FEATURES?

(From the solicitation)

“Escambia County is seeking an architectural and engineering [firm] for design services for two (2) Fire Stations, one (1) each in Beulah and Pleasant Grove. Each project is an approximately 10,000 square-foot fire station to be constructed at the County-owned site located at 6400 West Nine Mile Road, Pensacola, Florida 32526 and 9350 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola, Florida, 32507.

The projects will include reviewing the existing fire station structures and make recommendations for remodeling the existing facilities or new construction. The design will likely be similar for both facilities and adapted to each selected site. The work will include space programming, schematic design, design development, construction document preparation, bidding administration, and construction administration. The architect will prepare estimates and give the County an opinion of cost.

Each facility is estimated to be approximately 10,000 square feet and will include the following:

·         Beulah fire station / 4 drive thru truck bays

·         Pleasant Grove station / 3 drive thru bays     Both facilities shall include:

·         1 EMS bunkroom/ready room/office;

·         2 officer’s quarters with connecting bathrooms / office & bunkroom separated by wall;

·         8 bunkrooms/offices;

·         2 unisex bathrooms with shower;

·         1 unisex bathroom no shower;

·         1 day room to accommodate ten chairs/people;

·         1 kitchen with commercial appliances  (gas)  including four (4)  walk in pantries  with adequate space for refrigerators and shelves;

·         1 physical fitness room;

·         1 storage room;

·         1 janitorial supply closet;

·         1 decontamination/laundry room with room for ice machine;

·         1 enclosed bunker gear storage area to accommodate 30 full size PPE lockers;

·         Work bench and storage area;

·         1 large training room/community center room large enough to accommodate 25 people;

·         Secure lobby area for citizen/visitor entrance with limited access to rest of building;

·         Diesel exhaust system in truck bay;

·         Station alerting system; and

·         Consider bi-fold doors for truck bays”

WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FROM NOW TO AWARD OF THE DESIGN CONTRACT?