Renovations are no small undertaking. But the Bloomfield (N.M.)Fire Department's station needed a face lift, so Chief George Duncan led the charge to fund a project that would update sections of the station to meet the future needs of his department. Once the funding was secured, Duncan worked with architects to learn how best to undertake a fire station renovation project.

The Bloomfield renovation project was spurred by growth, Duncan said. The department had hired three career firefighters to provide staffing for the day shift Monday through Friday, and also had about 32 volunteers. The addition of full-time personnel brought to light the shortfalls of their fire station, which was built in the 1980s. As a result, Duncan began to look for ways to update facilities, including the administrative offices, the kitchen and locker rooms. In addition, he wanted dorms to be installed and to upgrade systems to make them more energy efficient.

Systems-Based Upgrades

The first step was to uncover funding sources. The department eventually obtained $3.4 million through a bond issue, using a gross-receipts tax to pay off the bond, instead of property taxes. Once funding was secured, the department hired Don May, a principal architect at Rohde May Keller McNamara Architecture in Albuquerque, N.M., to design the renovation. May said a renovation begins after someone in leadership has done a preliminary assessment to determine whether there's value in an existing facility.

"After someone decides to renovate, architects than analyze what can be kept, what can be upgraded and what needs to be replaced," he said.

May said most renovation upgrades center around systems — such as HVAC, exhaust, evacuation, communications and environmental. Energy efficiency was important to the Bloomfield project because New Mexico is an arid state and water conservation is crucial. So the architects developed roof system that collects rainfall, with the collected water then used for landscaping. As a result, city water isn't used to nourish the trees and the lawn, he said.

In addition, the interior finishes used in the renovation were environmentally friendly. May said they used sustainable materials, such as concrete, steel and glass throughout the station.

"When you are doing flooring, there's a variety of materials that can be used," he said. "For example, we've started to use polished concrete floors and eliminate those petroleum-based floors."

When deciding whether to renovate, it is important to determine how such interior and exterior upgrades will affect operations, said Bob Mitchell of Mitchell Associates Architects in Voorheesville, N.Y. Many fire departments continue to operate while under construction, without crippling operations. The ability to do so depends on the extent of the renovation, he said. In circumstances where the renovation is too disruptive for operations to remain on the site, fire chiefs must determine an alternative site to operate from during the construction.

"[It's important] to evaluate the trade-off between operating out of the building under renovation versus vacating to temporary quarters," Mitchell said.

For example, during the Bloomfield renovation, fire personnel had to abandon the facility's administrative offices. But the fire station is located on a municipal compound, so personnel only had to move into an older police department office about 100 feet away from the apparatus bay, for a little less than a year. As a result, operations didn't suffer, Duncan said.

"It was cramped space not conducive [to operations], but I know the community and response times didn't suffer," Duncan said.

The renovation went smoothly. But Duncan admitted he made one mistake: He should have pushed for funding to add one more bay. The department has six currently, "but we needed an additional one for the future," he said. However, the bay area was upgraded by adding an automated sprinkler system. In addition, the bay's roll-up doors were swapped out from steel to glass.

Duncan said one of the best approaches to the renovation was involving firefighters in the process, both career and volunteers. Potential designs were presented to them and their input was considered before the renovation began.

"They weren't just handed a design and told, 'Love it or leave it.' They were given that opportunity to comment," he said. "I believe everyone felt that they had a buy in, career and paid, and rank-and-file firefighters. Getting that input was vital."

Renovating the fire station also had another positive effect on firefighters, Duncan said.

"It boosted morale because they all felt that the community and the administration were behind them," he said.

Hidden Costs

Paul Erickson, senior principal architect at LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects in Reston, Va., has worked on more than 50 fire station projects. In his experience, many fire stations across the nation are antiquated, with many being 30 to 50 years old. At the same time, demands on the fire service in the last decade have changed dramatically — meaning that new technologies, apparatus and training facilities suddenly are a priority.

Erickson promotes new construction over renovations, noting that renovation projects often cost more per square foot. He understands fire departments must do more with less these days, but believes that a larger project always will yield a greater economy of scale. He said this is because smaller projects share similar overhead costs with larger projects, such as the cost of building permits and hiring a contractor.

"So those smaller projects will have an overall higher square-footage cost than a larger project," he said. "That being said, if there is only a certain amount of money that's available to fund a project — every improvement will have an immediate impact on the delivery of service and quality of life for the firefighters."

Older fire stations often lack space and often are designed inefficiently, which not only impedes growth but also forces departments to make compromises that have an impact on the services they can provide. So, chiefs need to work with architects on ways to increase the department's services to the community based on the newly renovated space, he said.

Indeed, it is important to determine the future services to be offered to the community before undergoing any fire station renovation, Mitchell added. He suggested chiefs consider doing operational forecasting to determine how the fire station must accommodate their future needs. Such forecasting can determine future trends by reviewing current call-volumes. For example, many fire departments have seen an uptick in ambulance calls and are adding space for such functions — including future housing for EMTs.

"Some departments are adding bunkers because the growth in ambulance calls is going to result in people living in the building," he said. "Even if the fire department remains volunteer, they are going to have to have paid EMTs."

Since the renovation will have such a huge an impact on users, Erickson said chiefs should follow Duncan's lead and find a good way to get the department's firefighters involved, regardless if it's a municipal or a volunteer department. He suggests they distribute an all-member survey at the beginning of the process and have some representatives from each shift involved in the design process — even if they may not have a final say.

"Getting some of the rank-and-file involved is a key part of communicating what's being done and making sure that their voices are represented at the table," Erickson said. "It also instills a sense of pride and ownership."

Fire Station Renovation Tips

• Build new apparatus bays adjacent the portion of the existing station that you will not be demolishing and convert the remaining existing structure to offices and meeting rooms.
• Obtain a small, abandoned commercial box store and convert it to a fire station.
• Break the project down into small enough pieces that it can be done over a 10-year period from operating funds, instead of requiring a public referendum.
• Combine renovation with a consolidation study in communities where there is a discussion about the number of fire stations.
• Consider the use of additions as part of an historic preservation project for a significantly older fire station.
• Achieve a LEED certification.
• Install super-efficient energy systems and retrofit for solar energy, day lighting and geothermal heat.
• Focus on creating a healthy environment for the firefighters (consider truck fumes, pressure balancing between the bay and living quarters, exercise rooms, fresh air, and mold and asbestos).
• Upgrade to current advanced technologies (computer networking, communications, access control, mechanical systems control).
• Incorporate in-station training facilities (ladder and hose evolutions, confined space extrication, abil-out, sprinklers and classrooms).

— Mitchell Associates Architects

Related Stories

• This old firehouse