HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8479 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No.- gA:7e
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council March 25, 2003
X Subject: DESIGN OF FIRE STATION 38 AND PROTO-TYPE FIRE STATION
In the course of approving the construction contract for Fire Station 39, Council asked Staff to pursue the
development of a proto-type design for fire stations to reduce the architectural fees associated with this
recurring facility construction need. This report is to inform Council on the status of that effort.
A qualification-based selection process was recently conducted to engage an architect for the design of Fire
Station 38, a station to be constructed in the Alliance area as a part of the '98 CIP. The intent is that the
design for Fire Station 38 will be the proto-type design. The architects who responded to our solicitation
were specifically evaluated on, among other things, their experience with and approach toward proto-type
design. RPGA Design Group Inc of Ft. Worth emerged from the selection process as the top rated
candidate. Staff intends to enter into contract negotiations with them for the development of a design for the
facility described in the following paragraph.
To optimize the Fire Department's response capability the typical size for future fire stations should be 2
company/3 bay. Although most future fire stations would be staffed initially with one fire company,
providing for additional living space and apparatus bays will allow the Fire Department flexibility in the
event that a fire station or fire company must be relocated, either temporarily or permanently. The additional
crew quarters also provides the necessary sleeping quarters for additional staff assigned to a station during
the annual grass fire season, and the additional apparatus bay will allow for storage of reserve apparatus,
many of which are now stored outside. Using current costs, the cost to design/construct, manage
design/construction, and furnish a station of this size is estimated at $1.8M - $2M (exclusive of land and fire
apparatus). The proto-type design would also allow for the fire station building to be expanded to
accommodate an additional function (e.g. water bill payment center, building permit center, community
meeting room, etc) as desired/needed.
Based on discussions with several architectural firms, staff expects the use of a proto-type design to reduce
architectural fees by approximately 35% (a savings of roughly $50,000 each time) assuming that the original
design architect is retained as the architect of record for each re-use and that there are no peculiar site
features that necessitate significant design adaptations. The design fees that will be incurred even with a
proto-type design cover the following:
• Site specific aspects of the project (surveying, grading plan, drainage plan, geo-technical testing,
landscape plan).
• Architectural/engineering consultation during construction
• Architectural/engineering fees to cover liability associated with use of their designs.
A Pre-Council presentation is scheduled for April 1", 2003. Questions regarding this report may be directed
to Fire Chief Charles Gai s at 871-6801 or Robert Goode at 871-7800.
Gary W. Jackson
Gary Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS