New Estates fire station begins construction.
Site work on Collier County Fire and EMS Station 74 began in mid-April and is projected to be completed in roughly a year at the corner of Golden Gate Boulevard East and Desoto Boulevard South in Golden Gate Estates.
Collier County EMS, North Collier Fire Rescue District, Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, and architect Schenkel Shultz Inc. collaborated on the design of the more than 14,000-square-foot building, according to a recent article by Tim Aten of Gulfshore Business.
The shared facility at 99 Desoto Blvd. S. will have five vehicle and equipment bays, 12 bunk rooms, seven restrooms, and day living areas such as a kitchen, dining room, workout room, laundry room, offices, and a screened lanai. There will also be fire-rescue department support areas for gear and disinfection.
In January, county commissioners awarded a nearly $9.5 million contract to Fort Myers-based Rycon Construction, one of six bidders for the project. Rycon plans to build the station on the almost 5.5-acre corner property, with about an acre set aside for a dry retention area and preserve buffer along the western and southern boundaries.
Because the undeveloped land is not connected by public services, a potable well, fire well, and septic system will be built, according to county documents.
“Coordination discussions with the two adjacent fire districts have resulted in an agreement in which Collier County will fund and complete the construction of Fire and Rescue Station 74 and Greater Naples Fire and North Collier Fire will commit to developing the next two new stations and include space and design considerations for Collier County EMS to co-locate,” according to an executive summary on the project prepared by principal project manager Tony Barone. This strategy combines the three distinct EMS projects into a single project that receives funding from the surtax program while the other two initiatives continue to fall under the purview of the fire districts.
Station 74 is projected to improve response times in the eastern Estates’ rural area, which is currently served by a station located more than 7 miles away on 13th Street SW and Golden Gate Boulevard. The new station, with single access lanes off both boulevards, is intended to reduce emergency response times from 20 to 10 minutes.
This article originally appeared on Gulfshore Business
