Construction of the new Central Emergency Services Fire Station begins this week. The official groundbreaking will be held on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. at the corner of Wilson Lane and Warehouse Drive.
Mayor Peter Micciche, Fire Chief Roy Browning, and key project personnel will speak briefly prior to celebrating a long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the new Station 1 Replacement Project. The public is invited to celebrate by joining the Kenai Peninsula Borough and CES family for burgers and refreshments.
According to the press release, borough administration will be providing the refreshments. “Mayor Micciche has been instructed that he will be grilling,” the release says.
The construction contract for the new fire station was awarded to Blazy Construction, the lowest bidder, for approximately $18 million. The project is funded through a bond approved by voters in October 2022.
The new 26,665-square-foot firehouse, designed by K&A Design Studio, a local architectural firm, will include 10 bays for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles and 10 sleeping units for crew.
According to the press release, replacing outdated structures and equipment was the primary purpose of pushing this new station through. “The current building that houses Central Emergency Services was originally built as a community hall in the late 1950s and expanded in the early 1980s,” the release stated. “Today’s service area and the community’s EMS needs have outgrown the small, aging, and expensive-to-maintain existing facility.”
The current station responds to over 2,000 emergency calls annually, a number that is steadily rising as our community grows. CES covers much of the central peninsula from Kasilof through Soldotna and past Sterling, as well as the entire Funny River Road area.
New Station #1 capacity will house up to 12 EMS personnel, a significant increase from the four that the current building can accommodate. The new Station 1 will include additional storage for supplies and equipment used not only at the Soldotna facility but also at the other four stations in the expansive fire service area. Other improvements include additional parking to accommodate all the station’s vehicles and crew and public parking. The current parking space is inadequate and shared with the Soldotna Police Department. The new fire station will be far more efficient and fit for purpose and will deliver operational savings and efficiencies. The building is slated to be completed in the fall of 2025.
Mayor Peter Micciche said, “The Central Emergency Service team does an amazing job meeting their commitment to keep your family safe, but there are long-standing efficiency and service obstacles in the existing 70-year-old Station #1. A replacement facility has been a long time coming and I personally appreciate the support of CES voters who strongly supported this project. The life-saving work of the men and women of CES will be enhanced, ensuring they are there for residents when they need them the most. This locally-designed, locally-built facility will provide fire and EMS services for our families and the CES community for many decades into the future.”
Chief Roy Browning added, “Plans for increasing the capacity of the Soldotna Fire Station to answer the rising number of emergency calls and accommodate the needed staffing for the growing Central Emergency Service Area date back to the late ‘90s. Replacing the fire station has been the service area’s number one priority since 2016. We are so grateful that the community supported this new station, and we are excited to start construction.”
