Tucson's new $39 million Fire Central will open its doors to the public today for the first time.
The new fire headquarters, on the south side of Cushing Street near Granada Avenue downtown, will bring together all of the fire administration for the first time in decades.
The grand opening of the 67,000-square-foot building is at 9 a.m. today, with a dedication followed by the ringing of the 100-year-old bell atop the structure. Guided tours will follow.
The new architecturally distinct building was designed to blend in with the historic Barrio Viejo, where it is located. It allows the Fire Department to consolidate its operations in one place.
"We previously were in three separate buildings," said Capt. Trish Tracy, Fire Department spokeswoman. "This brings the three sections of the Fire Department into one building to more easily coordinate efforts."
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The new fire headquarters will house fire administration, Fire Station No. 1 and the department's fire-prevention bureau along with its public education program, systems engineering and fire-cause investigation.
Tracy said the firefighters at Station No. 1 will now have their own rooms to sleep in, replacing the dormitory rooms in the previous location on South Church Avenue next to the Police Department headquarters, where firefighters slept six to a room. Tracy said the old fire HQ was one of the last fire stations to have dormitory-style sleeping quarters.
Approved by the City Council in March 2006 with an expected cost of $26 million, the price tag ballooned more than 48 percent, to $38.5 million, when an underground parking garage was added with space for 176 vehicles.
Also added to the project were $500,000 for flood-control work in Barrio Viejo, $600,000 to run chilled-water lines from the Tucson Convention Center to cool the building, and $800,000 for soil stabilization around the fire station and a nearby sewer line, among other improvements.
The building also includes a small public park to highlight the 1931 San Cosme Chapel on West Simpson Street, which is an adobe structure just south of the fire station, as well as the first segment of the six-mile greenway and multiuse path being built along the old El Paso Railroad tracks.
The construction cost will be paid with certificates of participation - which are similar to bonds but don't require voter approval - that will be repaid over 15 years mainly from the money saved from the city's turning its half of the regional library system over to Pima County.
Unlike most of the government projects built in the area, most notably the Tucson Convention Center, the fire station was supported by the neighboring Barrio Viejo Neighborhood Association.
Pedro Gonzales, Barrio Viejo's chairman, said the Fire Department's relationship with the neighborhood was positive from the beginning. He noted that the project fixed drainage problems in the neighborhood, added the greenway improvements and provided a park and placita next to the chapel.
"We really like the project, the way they approached us and that they want to be our neighbor," Gonzales said. "It's part of the barrio now."
On StarNet: Go to
azstarnet.com/slideshows for more photos of the new station.
