SEATTLE – The Seattle Fire Department and the Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27, invite the community to visit Seattle’s new Fire Station 22, located at 901 E. Roanoke St., during an open house from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018.
“Our firefighters are excited to welcome the community they serve into their new work facility” said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. “This is a chance for residents to meet their local firefighters, learn more about their lifesaving techniques and tour the new and improved fire station.”
“Seattle‘s neighborhood fire stations support our firefighters in their efforts to respond to emergencies and protect public safety every day,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “The new Fire Station 22 will ensure our firefighters are best equipped to serve their surrounding community. I encourage the public to check out the newly upgraded fire station and meet their neighborhood firefighters.”
Built in 1964, the former station’s age and inadequate size made it more cost effective to replace rather than renovate the building, which was outdated, out of regulatory compliance and too small to accommodate modern apparatus and staffing levels. Constructed on the same site, the new 10,000-square-foot, two-story facility includes increased bay space, a decontamination/clean room, storage for major disaster supplies and EMS equipment, as well as a visitor-accessible restroom, office space, a physical fitness room, beanery, bunk rooms and more.
Demolishing the old station and starting from scratch also provided an ideal opportunity to reconfigure vehicle access. Station 22 sits at the very busy intersection next to the Roanoke Street exit and on-ramp for Interstate 5. Previously, returning fire engines had to be backed into the station from the street; the new facility has a drive-thru configuration, offering a much safer alternative for all vehicles and equipment coming and going.
The project is expected to achieve LEED Platinum Certification. Sustainability features include 78 solar panels on the roof, two 6,000-gallon underground stormwater cisterns, stormwater bio-retention planter and permeable pavers at exterior public spaces.
Fire Station 22 is one of 32 neighborhood fire stations upgraded, renovated or replaced through the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Program, which was approved by Seattle voters in 2003. The project was developed by the City of Seattle’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services, designed by Weinstein A/U and built by Par-Tech Construction, Inc. Construction began in May 2016 and completed in October 2017, and progress was recorded via a time lapse video.
In accordance with the city’s Priority Hire program, the Fire Station 22 project included a community workforce agreement (CWA) that identified goals for including construction workers from the community, women, people of color and apprentices. Though not final, preliminary results show this project was successful in reaching and exceeding its CWA goals:
- Workers living in economically distressed communities earned $376,000 in direct wages, which is more than double what would have been brought into these communities before priority hire.
- Workers from economically distressed ZIP codes performed about 30 percent of the project hours, a much higher share than the 17 percent requirement or 10 percent past performance.
- Women worked about 19 percent of the hours, compared to 2 percent on similar previous projects.
- People of color worked over half the project hours, compared to 21 percent past performance.
- Apprentices performed 21 percent of the hours, much higher than the 15 percent requirement.
At the start of the open house (11 a.m.), the Seattle 4 Rotary Club Peacebuilder Committee will plant a Peace Pole in front of the fire station. The phrase ‘May peace be with you’ is written in several different languages on the Peace Pole. The mission of the Peacebuilder Committee is to encourage and empower all members of our community to exercise mutual respect, understanding and cooperation, and to advocate both globally and locally for non-violent resolutions to conflict.
“I hope you will join us for the Peace Pole planting at 11 a.m. to support the mission of the Peacebuilder Committee and show that Fire Station 22 is an integral part of demonstrating mutual respect and cooperation in the community,” said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins.