Building a new downtown fire station on the Durango School District 9-R administration property is the wrong use for that location, East Third Avenue residents told the fire chief Sunday during a meeting in Mason Center Park.
The meeting, organized by the Boulevard Neighborhood Association, was a chance for residents to learn more about the plan and ask questions of Durango Fire Protection Chief Hal Doughty. About 55 people attended, including about 20 members of the fire department.
Doughty explained the need for a new downtown fire station, and tried to assure residents the fire department will be a good neighbor.
Before the meeting, Doughty acknowledged residents have concerns about traffic, noise and character issues associated with locating a fire station near the historic East Third neighborhood.
“We’re here to talk about what our plan is, what our vision is, how excited we are to be moving into the neighborhood,” Doughty said.
Residents seemed to fall into two camps: those who want to stop the fire station from moving into the neighborhood and those who want to mitigate the impacts. No residents spoke in favor of the move, and no Durango city councilors or school board members attended.
Karen Anesi, president of the Boulevard Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhood sentiment is a little more nuanced: Some people are strongly supportive of the fire station moving to the school district property and others are “ambivalent.”
Holly Jobson, who lives near the school district property, said everyone loves and supports the fire department, but the school district property at 201 E. 12th St. is not a good fit for the fire department and adjacent neighborhood. The property is too large for the fire department’s needs, it is not a good use of taxpayer money and it will likely reduce parking in an already congested part of the city, she said.
She noted Doughty has identified several other sites that are well-suited for a fire station, but it seems the fire district ultimately selected the 9-R Administration Building “because it was available.” The decision to purchase the school district property seems like a “cry for help,” she said.
“This is not a good location for a firehouse,” Jobson said. “I like to think that things like our fire stations are planned – their locations are actually planned.”
Doughty said the fire district has been contemplating a new downtown station for as long as the station at River City Hall has been in use, since 1983.
“I think that you’ve got the impression that this was a fly-by-night decision,” Doughty said “... I can tell you that’s absolutely not the case.”
The downtown fire station is currently located on river-front property owned by the city at 1235 Camino del Rio, near River City Hall. The existing station is too small (a ladder truck doesn’t fit in the bays), and is ill-equipped to house male and female firefighters, Doughty said.
Over the years, city officials have shown disinterest in allowing the fire department to upgrade that station, Doughty said. Instead, the city has “a higher and better use” for the property, he said, possibly wanting to use it to help connect the Animas River Trail with the downtown corridor via a Camino del Rio underpass, among other uses.
Doughty said he used to be under the impression the city would help him identify a piece of property where a new downtown fire station could be built. But over the years, he came to realize it was incumbent upon him to find and buy a location.
He has considered multiple options, including Buckley Park, the AutoZone location in the 1300 block of Main Avenue, the train parking lot on the corner of Main Avenue and 12th Street, among others. But none have come to fruition.
Doughty said the fire department responds to 1,600 calls in the downtown core every year.
“What I’m telling you is we’ve got to exist somewhere,” Doughty said. “... We have to exist near the downtown core so that we can timely respond there.”
Based on call volume, the downtown station needs to be located somewhere between the Animas River and East Third Avenue, and College Drive and 14th Street, he said.
Doughty acknowledged the fire district moved quickly on purchasing the school district property. In fact, the fire district became aware that the school district property was for sale only a week before the bidding closed, he said. But the district had already considered the property and it wasn’t hard to write a proposal for how the fire district would use the property, he said.
The fire district won the bid with an offer to pay $5 million in cash and $1.94 million of in-kind services.
The school district had three competing offers:
- An out-of-state developer offered to pay $6.1 million to create housing and commercial space.
- A local resident offered $4.5 million in cash to open a low-cost day care, private preschool, elder care and a technology incubator.
- Two local residents and an out-of-state developer offered $4 million to create residential units, some of which would be deed-restricted as affordable housing for teachers.
Doughty said medics and firefighters respond to help people on the worst days of their lives, do everything possible to save lives, “and then walk away without asking for anything other than just a place in your community to serve you from.”
If residents go to a nice downtown restaurant and choke on a piece of meat and start to turn blue, the fire department responds, Doughty said. “If we can’t get there within four to eight minutes, we can’t save you, so it’s critical for us to be able to be close,” he said.
Doughty joked that he’s been so persistent in lobbying for a new fire station location that city councilors walk across the street when they see him, just to avoid the subject.
“I feel like I’m just killing them with trying to get my job done so maybe I can retire, maybe buy a house next to you guys on Third Ave.,” he joked.
On a more serious note, Jobson said there’s a “huge cost” to maintaining a 100-year-old building like the 9-R Administration Building, which doesn’t make sense from a taxpayer perspective.
Russ Kimble, who lives in the 1400 block of East Third Avenue, said the school district property is too big for the fire department. He inquired about the fire district’s plan to share space with other entities.
“That’s sort of like being a real estate manager, and I don’t see that as your role,” Kimble said.
Doughty said he’s not interested in leasing space for retail or condos; rather, he’d like to find partners with similar needs, for example, the Durango Police Department, which is also looking for a new location.
“We both have very similar agency needs, we both have diverse work forces, we both have to have gymnasium facilities, male and female locker room facilities, shower facilities, conference rooms,” Doughty said. “... We both have very, very similar needs, so I believe that is a marriage made in heaven.”
Greg Hoch, former planning director for the city, asked if the fire district’s contract with the school district includes a contingency clause, in the event the fire department’s site plan is denied by the city.
Doughty said if something stops the fire department from being able to close, it has an opportunity to back out of the contract.
Hoch said he foresees a lot of “practical problems” with a site plan. The fire district will likely need to remove parking on 12th Street and it will need to run trucks on the narrow 12th Street. The best solution, he said, would be to stay at the River City Hall site and rebuild facilities to meet the fire department’s needs.
“I personally believe this is the wrong location,” Hoch said. “... I think River City Hall should be the site for your facility.”
Hoch said the city has talked for years about doing something different at River City Hall, but nothing ever gains traction. He said the city and other community members have contemplated an arts center, convention center and other uses.
“It isn’t going to happen, and if it does happen, it won’t be for 30 years,” Hoch said of the plans.
He urged residents and Doughty to proposition City Council to allow the fire department to rebuild on the River City Hall site.
“Get out of the inherent conflicts that you’re going to have at this (school district) site, for practical purposes and political realities,” Hoch told the fire chief. “You’re going to run into a lot more opposition.
“I really think people need to recognize the City Council needs to be persuaded for the better community good that the fire station remodel should occur at River City Hall,” he said.
Some residents wanted more specifics about how the fire department plans to come and go from the school district site.
Doughty said it’s not the fire department’s intent to use East Third Avenue as a response route or a return route, at least not as a matter of habit. If the fire department needs to go on Florida Road, he said trucks will leave the station on 12th Street, go west toward Main Avenue, turn up 15th Street and onto Florida Road. He’ll also use East Second Avenue to access outlying neighborhoods, he said.
“I want to be a good neighbor to you,” Doughty said. “I want to make sure we do this in a way that is not disruptive.”
He also said the new building would be designed in the same architectural style or look as the 9-R Administration Building, which won’t be torn down as part of the move. He imagines jack-arched openings on the front of the newly built fire station with vertically hinged doors rather than doors that roll up, “so there’s some real beauty to what this building looks like.”
He added that DFPD drivers are well-trained on Durango’s busy and narrow roads and intersections.
Before Sunday’s meeting, Doughty discussed the purchase agreement of the school district property in an interview with The Durango Herald.
The fire district, he said, submitted a bid for the property, was selected by the school board, entered a letter of intent with the school board and has signed a sale agreement.
The sale cannot be finalized until Buckley Park is split from the property, he said. It is the school district’s intent to sell Buckley Park to the city.
The fire district is in the process of hiring an architect to design the new fire station, he said.
“We intend to continue having opportunities like this for others to share with the community what the vision is, what the site plan looks like, what artist renderings of the building might look like, but basically, I don’t have any of that stuff yet,” he said.
Doughty recognized residents are concerned about traffic issues, lights and sirens, and what it will be like living next to a fire station.
But Doughty said there are fire stations in other neighborhoods throughout Durango. And for the most part, neighbors appreciate having firefighters as neighbors, he said.
“They actually send us Christmas cards and tell us what great neighbors we are,” Doughty said.
He said fire and medical vehicles are equipped with “traffic preemption equipment” that allows drivers to activate traffic lights to stop traffic, thereby reducing the need for lights and sirens. He said lights and sirens aren’t used on every call, contrary to popular belief.
“We are used to living in fire stations that are next to residences,” Doughty said. “There is nothing that requires us to use lights and sirens when we go out at night. We use lights and sirens so that we can operate safely and when we need to ask for people to give us the right of way.”
The fire department has vetted 31 locations to build a new downtown fire station, Doughty said, but all had insurmountable obstacles. In some cases, the property was too small, in others the owners didn’t want to sell. In some cases, there wasn’t the political support needed to bring a deal to fruition, he said.
Residents were respectful at Sunday’s meeting, but at times small barbs were exchanged.
Jobson said some residents view the city’s decision to rebuild the wastewater treatment plant at Santa Rita Park as a “100-year mistake.” She said locating a fire station between two historic properties is not right for the neighborhood or Durango as a whole.
“I don’t want your name to be tagged with another 100-year mistake, or our fire district,” Jobson said.
Doughty shot back: “I appreciate the fact that you don’t want us here. I get that. I’m very clear on that.
“... There are people who want us to do this and there are people who don’t,” he added. “When you have that situation, not everybody is going to end up being happy.”
In an interview after the neighborhood meeting, Kathy Morris, president of the fire district board of directors, said the fire department needs a downtown location, and the school district property is an “ideal spot.”
When asked who supports the move, she said the membership of the fire district and the school district. “As board president, I have not received any communication in the negative for this purchase, at all,” she said.
Bud Smith, attorney for the fire district, said he used to think finding a place to locate a wastewater treatment plant was the hardest thing to do, but the fire station has proved more difficult.
Doughty said he is trying to serve the community the best he can. The fire department is not interested in ruining a historic neighborhood or botching up traffic, he said. “We are trying to find a home from which we can serve this community,” Doughty said. “That really is our only motive.”
Nancy Mills, an East Third Avenue resident, asked whether the fire district is willing to rebuild on the River City Hall site should it become available, i.e., if the city of Durango gave its blessing.
“I’m not going to yell at City Council or anything until I know first that that is something the fire district would like,” she said.
Doughty said the question put him on the spot.
The River City Hall site also has issues relating to access, elevation, the 100-year flood plain and potentially mine tailings, he said.
“I’m not going to commit that I would absolutely pick that (River City Hall) over this (the school district property),” he said.
shane@durangoherald.com
