Durango Fire Protection District is finalizing architectural plans for its new No. 2 fire station and will host a public input hearing later this month to receive feedback about design elements.
The meeting is scheduled for July 26 and will be held at the Powerhouse Science Center, 1295 Camino del Rio, just down the street from River City Hall, the site of the planned fire station.
DFPD Deputy Chief Randy Black said fire department representatives will discuss design components of the new fire station, and architects from Reynolds Ash & Associates, the developer hired to design the station, will be present to discuss the building’s architecture.
The meeting is an opportunity for residents to weigh in on aesthetic features of the building, such as the color of brick, materials, artwork, general finish and potentially landscape elements, he said.
Architectural designs will complement the characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood, earth-toned buildings along the Animas River, and aim to balance the feel of a traditional fire station with a modern or current appearance, he said.
The fire department declined to release architectural renderings of the new building until the meeting, saying they are not finalized.
Black said DFPD doesn’t want to build anything obnoxious or that looks out of place.
“We’re not building the Strater down there, which wouldn’t look right in that building,” he said. “We’ve got the period-appropriate buildings that are there but we want to pay appropriate homage to the architectural design while showing that it’s a new and current building.”
The new fire station will be consistent with the Camino del Rio corridor, he said.
Black said a meeting with the city of Durango necessitated some changes to designs, and there are some pieces that must be settled before the designs are finalized.
A section of the building design was moved further away from the Animas River to accommodate more green space and landscaping between the river and the fire station, he said.
“So we’re just being very cognizant of all the needs and views in the area and making sure that we’ve got our i’s dotted and t’s crossed before those plans get released,” he said.
The fire department has been on the search for a suitable location for a new No. 2 fire station for decades. The current No. 2 fire station is at the River City Hall site, but the building is old, cramped and not suited for fire operations in its current state. The fire department has scouted other locations for a new station, even purchasing the former Durango School District 9-R administration building from the school district, but none of them worked out.
Ultimately, it was decided to build a new facility at the existing River City Hall site, which is owned by the city. A complicated building swap between the city, fire department and to a lesser extent the school district is underway.
cburney@durangoherald.com
