On Thursday, October 28, City of Bothell councilmembers, leaders, design-build team members and community partners, came together to celebrate the official groundbreaking of Fire Stations 42 (Downtown) and 45 (Canyon Park).
"I want to recognize our community for supporting the Safe and Secure Bond that was passed by voters in 2018. The Bond is funding the majority of this project which involves replacing two of Bothell's busiest fire stations with new modern facilities," Mayor Liam Olsen said.
Building permits have been issued for both fire stations and groundwork is underway, led by the design-build team, BNBuilders and Miller Hull Partnership. Fire Station 45 was demolished in mid-October and will be the first of two buildings to be complete, likely in late 2022. Demolition of Fire Station 42 is anticipated to take place early next year with the new facility projected to be move-in ready by 2023.
Both stations will exceed industry standards, follow best practices of "Healthy-In, Healthy-Out," to maximize firefighter safety, and will offer ample room for growth.
More specifically, they will feature:
- Individual sleeping rooms to support gender diversity in the modern fire service
- Decontamination areas for bunker gear and equipment
- Adequate space for the proper care and storage of vehicles and equipment
- Dedicated fitness rooms to support firefighter health and readiness
- Buildings designed to the latest seismic and other code requirements for essential facilities
- Large training classroom at Station 42 that is also fully equipped as a modern Emergency Command Center
Station 45 will also house a satellite police office so Bothell Police Department can better serve north end residents. Despite different locations, the two stations will be constructed with similar materials and systems to streamline costs and to develop a unified identify for Bothell Fire Department's facilities.
"Stations 42 and 45 have served us well for many years but they are tired. They have met the end of their lives and we are really excited that in just over a year's time, we will be operating out of two new state-of-the-art facilities," Fire Chief Bruce Kroon shared.
Thank you to the Bothell community for your support and partnership in public safety. Regular project updates will be shared on our project webpage.
The Fire Stations Replacement Project is almost entirely funded by the 2018 voter-approved Safe and Secure Bond, worth $35.5 million. On Feb. 2, 2021, City Council approved an amended Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) and total project cost of $38 million. The additional $2.5 million of the total project cost will be funded by future fire impact fees.