New fire station on way

By Cristina Janney
Newton Kansan
Posted Jul 15, 2010 @ 12:13 PM
Last update Jul 15, 2010 @ 12:14 PM
NEWTON -


Left to right: Mayor Willis Heck; Newton Fire/EMS Chief Gary Denny; Tony Rangel, LawKingdon Architecture, City Commissioner Ken Hall, City Commissioner Kevin Pouch, City Commissioner Jim Nickel; Suzanne Loomis, city director of public works; Erin McDaniel, city public information officer; Mike Greer, president Eby Construction; and Dennis Smith, architecture with LawKingdon Architecture, break ground on a new $3.6 million south Newton fire station Wednesday.


An artist's rendering of the new south Newton fire station that will be built at Southeast 24th Street and South Kansas Avenue. Desginers are aiming to get the station a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (also known as LEED). This will incorporate several green designs, including the use of daylight for lighting and energy- efficient fixtures and mechanical systems

Residents of Newton and city officials gathered Wednesday to break ground on a new fire station in south Newton.
The fire station has been on the city's wish list from as early as 1995 but was made possible by a $2.9 million Recovery Act grant. Newton won the award from more than 6,000 applications that were submitted nationwide. Newton was the only city in the state to receive a grant.
"Our preplanning put our department in a perfect position to take advantage of the stimulus funds when they became available," Newton Fire/EMS Chief Gary Denny said in a news release. "This new station will greatly enhance our ability to serve the citizens and visitors of Newton."
The total cost of the project is $3.6 million.
The city has purchased six acres at Southeast 24th Street and South Kansas Avenue on which to build the station.
The 12,273-square-foot station is expected to be completed in spring 2011.
The new station will feature two aisles, which will be able to house four vehicles.
The building also will have staff quarters for four two-man bunk rooms with full bathrooms, a dayroom, kitchen and exercise room. The station will be able to house eight firefighters.
Two added features to the station will be a training room and a branch office for the Newton Police Department.
Emergency officials hope the training room also could be used as an emergency management crisis center in the case of a disaster.
This would be the place from which all emergency operations would be staged in case of a disaster, such as a tornado.
The room will include multi-media facilities, and the city also plans to open the room for use by the community when it is not being used by Fire/EMS or police.
The city will seek silver level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (also known as LEED) for the new fire station. This requires the use of green technology in the building.
The station will use biowaste and a rain garden to control site water runoff and quality.
It will be required to use water-efficient plumbing and fixtures.
Builders will use materials that have been harvested, recovered and manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.
The station will use daylight extensively for lighting, and the mechanical systems will be high-efficiency to improve energy performance.
Newton started looking at building a new station as the city has grown steadily during the last 10 years, especially in the southern area of the city.
As the city has grown, so has the Fire/EMS response times.
The response times to areas south of U.S. Highway 50 exceed the four-minute national standard. The distance between the nearest fire station to the Chisholm Trail Outlet & Retail Shops is four miles, which fire officials have said is too far to make a timely response.
A study in 2006 indicated the city needed a third fire station to address these issues.
"In moments when seconds matter, this building will mean life or death," Mayor Willis Heck said. "That is why the study said emergency services needed this station."
The last fire station built in Newton was constructed in 1967.