Planning begun for new fire station north of I-90

Station 7: Built in '64 will phase out, follow growth near Exit 60

By Scott Aust, Journal staff | Friday, October 10, 2008

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If all goes according to plan, sometime in 2010, Rapid City will have a new fire station on the north side of Interstate 90 near Exit 60. The area is expected to experience high growth in coming years because of current retail development to the east and the under-construction extension of East Mall Drive.

The new station will replace Station 7 at Anamosa and Maple streets. Trucks and personnel at Station 7, currently a fire pump truck staffed by three and a medical unit staffed by two, will relocate to the new station.

"As we look at our response times, and the way the city is growing, and the condition of the station, it's clearly time to look at replacement," Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing said Friday. "It allows us to serve the new growth, but it really allows us to serve all the citizens in that area without needing to add more staff and more fire trucks."

Station 7 was built in 1964. The new station will be larger and modern, similar to the city's newer stations, Station 3 and Station 6, which Rohlfing said are the prototype stations the city will emulate.

The new station is included in a tax increment financing district formed last month to develop commercial property north of the interstate and east of La Crosse Street. Improvements in the TIF include extension of East North Street, widening East Mall Drive, building sewer infrastructure, a drainage channel and traffic signal.

The McKie group, an auto dealership in town, fronted the dollars for the infrastructure to take East North Street up to where the fire station will be. The Lien family, long involved in real estate and rock quarries, donated the property, Rohlfing said.

"There are a whole lot of landowners and people involved there that came together to make this happen. It's a project that would have gone forward without it being in the TIF, but with the generosity of a couple of our corporate citizens, it made it an even better deal for the city," Rohlfing said.

The city has about $1.3 million identified in its capital improvement budget for the replacement of Station 7. That money will be used to build the station, and then, the capital improvements fund will be reimbursed using the TIF.

Rohlfing said that when the project starts, it should take nine months to a year to complete. Right now, the construction timetable depends on how quickly the infrastructure improvements included in the TIF can be built.

"Our plan is to begin design this winter, so when the infrastructure is done, hopefully late spring or early summer, we can build that fire station," he said.

On Tuesday, the city's public works committee will talk about signing a contract with the same consultant who designed Stations 3 and 6 to design the new Station 7.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com