‘Business as usual” took a back seat when the city of Galesburg, Ill., rejected a traditional design/bid/build procurement program for a new fire station in favor of a process known as construction management.

The $1.5 million station, which includes about $330,000 for the land and infrastructure improvements, replaced a century-old facility in the city center that was the last of three firehouses originally built to house horse-drawn apparatus. The other two were replaced in 1976 and 1981.

Fire Chief John Cratty credits the progressive construction management approach with streamlining the entire administration of the program. The contract consolidated both design development and general contracting responsibilities with Johnson Building Systems following a competitive request-for-proposals selection process. The firm had previously served as the construction management for the county's health department facility.

“The construction management method simplified the entire process for the fire station and improved our control over the cost, quality level and completion schedule,” Cratty says.

Response time shift

Galesburg's development had shifted over the past decades toward the northwest, compromising the response time from the old station. It took as much as six minutes to answer some calls.

The department's 48 full-time personnel provide fire suppression, EMS and water rescue, and they help support a Regional Training Center for the Fire Services Institute at the University of Illinois. The department answered 2,955 calls last year in 30 response categories. The station replaced by the new project handled 39% of those dispatches.

At the start of the process, the department used the city's Geographic Information System to computer-model multiple site alternatives that would ensure a four-minute response time throughout the coverage area. Now all three stations can meet the four-minute goal for their response zones.

The new facility incorporates a number of elements that respond to the department's personnel and operational requirements, including accommodations for female firefighters, a physical fitness area, special provisions for the hazmat unit and apparatus bays that can accept the department's 100-foot ladder unit. Outside, durable brick walls and a standing-seam metal roof system should reduce maintenance over the building's intended 50-year life. In fact, it's possible that the station could serve as long as its predecessor.

“We made every effort to build a station that will meet our needs now and well into the foreseeable future,” Cratty says. “Many features of the building's plan, including the size, lighting controls and the interface of the various rooms resulted from our experience with the other stations and the planning committee's visits to other new facilities throughout the region.”

Station specifics

Changes are more than evident in the station's living quarters. The fully sprinklered building subdivides into six private sleeping rooms instead of a common dormitory, and there are separate shower and locker areas for men and women, an exercise room, tool and storage areas, a kitchen, and an administrative office area. Trane heat pumps in 4-ton/100,000Btu and 5-ton/120,000Btu models air-condition this space in two zones. Natural gas fuels the heat pumps and the kitchen cooking equipment.

The new station also can support a broader mission more efficiently, as a hazmat team and apparatus trailer are now stationed at the facility. The department is one of only 32 Level A hazmat teams in the state and has 30 firefighters trained in the skills. There are drive-through bays for both an Alexis 1,500GPM rescue pumper with 500-gallon tank and a 1999 Chevy Suburban EMS/rescue equipment vehicle. A half-bay exists for the hazmat trailer.

The 8-inch-thick floor slab for the apparatus bays is tested for 5,200psi and incorporates an in-floor hydronic heating loop that circulates off a natural-gas — fired boiler. The in-floor heating system warms not only the apparatus bay but also the fitness room and turnout gear room, each zoned and controlled by individual thermostats. A Plymovent diesel exhaust — removal system automatically disconnects from the pumper during a call.

Six Sportlite LX 800 high-intensity discharge fluorescent light fixtures constitute the bay lighting and have instant on/off controls linked to the alarm mode and a timer. The 42-watt fixtures operate independently and have a 15,000-hour life rating. Mounted at 20 feet high, the lights can deliver up to 40 footcandles in the bays, depending on the number illuminated.

The Raynor tri-core insulated doors incorporate two rows of 8- by 2-foot insulated windows to admit daylight. The screw jack openers roll up the door leaves as far as possible before they flip and roll back parallel to the ceiling.

The building materials and operational systems all underwent value engineering analyses to establish their life-cycle expectancy versus initial cost. The project's erection time improved by incorporating pre-engineered metal building systems supplied by Butler Manufacturing, including the color-coated roof and pre-engineered structural framing. The roof system's weathertight construction has a long-term warranty that should complement the durability of the brick wall construction.

Smooth process

Cratty endorses the construction management alternative because it permitted a more interactive team approach throughout the design development and even the actual construction stage.

Fewer change orders resulted and were resolved more easily than in gaining approval to modify the rigid design and material specifications associated with a traditional design/bid/build contract. Moreover, public bid openings on 21 of the major work packages preserved competitive pricing. Johnson Building Systems received three contracts executed by its own work force.

“I could not believe how simple and smooth the process was for this project,” Cratty says. “The construction manager and the architect he hired for the project sat down with our station committee members and worked through what we wanted in the building. From visits to other new stations in the region, we already had basic concepts down on paper.

“As an administrator, I liked the approach because I had only one point of contact for any questions or to make decisions regarding any changes. I didn't have to deal with different subs that couldn't depart from a set of rigid specs.”

The department transferred a bit of the old station with the crew now posted at the new facility. The signature stone that identified the old station was removed and now is inset into the wall on the parking lot side of the new building.

In another sentimental step, a portion of the brass fire pole stands inside as a decorative element. Plans are to present remaining pieces of the pole to retirees, Cratty says.

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Jim Ladesich is a freelance writer and construction publicist based in Shawnee Mission, Kan.