By Ty Vinson
The Olympian
TUMWATER, Wash. — Tumwater’s T2, also known as the North End Fire Station, is set to undergo a $7.6 million renovation project to turn what was originally a volunteer firehouse into a more fully-functioning facility for the growing city.
Fire Chief Brian Hurley presented the Public Health & Safety Committee with some of the plans on Dec. 9 . He said the station was first opened in 1995 and is a little over 5,000 square feet. He said there are two apparatus bays, and it was originally staffed by volunteers.
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Hurley said the station was staffed with full-time firefighters and medics in 2018 in response to a growing population and increase in calls. In an interview with The Olympian on Dec. 10, Hurley said the city expanded its contract with Medic One to host a new unit at the station, and they hired several staff members who now work full-time at the facility. There are three on the fire engine, two medics, and two aid unit employees.
“The other piece is just the growth here in the City of Tumwater. We’re trying to look to the future, and at some point we’re going to have a third fire station,” Hurley said in the interview. “I’m not sure when that will be yet, but in the meantime, we need to make sure we have capacity to address our own growth here in Tumwater as well.”
Hurley told The Olympian that the population in the city roughly doubled from 1995, when the station was first opened, to 2018, when it was staffed full-time, from around 12,000 to more than 24,000. He said the station was recommended by Medic One as the preferred location for its eighth unit through an analysis of paramedic service demand in 2024.
He said employees who are working out of the station as is are making it work, but it’s not ideal. The facility isn’t big enough in all ways, he said: the bathrooms, locker rooms, the number of bays for trucks, the kitchen, sleeping quarters and more.
He said the gym/fitness area for employees is in the apparatus bay, which isn’t safe and takes up space that could be better used for vehicles.
Hurley said things are working OK for now, because the station is only staffed a number of days through the end of the year. But starting Jan. 1, he said their contract with Medic One states that Medic 8 must be staffed full-time and 24/7 to meet an increase in demand.
“We’ve got some good temporary measures in place, but we have heard concerns from our employees, and in fact, a number of them were included in our work group we put together to help plan this effort,” Hurley said.
Hurley said the city has a number of response zones, but you can basically divide Tumwater in two, with Trosper Road being the diving line. He said 56% of calls were in the North End Fire Station’s jurisdiction in 2024.
He said right now, if there are enough people on duty to staff an extra aid unit to run EMS calls, that response comes from the main station on Israel Road Southwest, on the other side of town. Their preference would be for a team to be available at T2 when calls come from the north side of the city. Renovation plans
Hurley said in his presentation the plan is to add an extra 3,000 square feet of space to the building, along with an additional 220 square feet for offices.
He said the plan is to add eight individual dorm rooms, which is the standard in today’s fire station construction, along with four combination bathroom locker rooms. The proposal includes an expanded dayroom and kitchen area, security fencing and gates, a workout room, storage rooms and a decontamination room, and a third apparatus bay for a paramedic unit.
Hurley said this project will overlap with a roundabout project at Linwood and Second avenues near the fire station, which will bring sidewalk and driveway improvements to the facility as well.
Hurley said the city contracted with architect firm Rice Fergus Miller for the design work, which will be starting soon. He said the timeline for construction hasn’t been defined yet, and the roundabout project will have to come first. That project is scheduled to start construction anytime now. And the station remodel is more expensive than planned.
Hurley said the cost for construction is just over $5 million. Combined with soft costs from permits, fees, taxes and more, the price tag is looking more like $7.6 million. The Capital Facilities Plan had earmarked $5.2 million for the project.
Hurley said early projections for the project only included a limited remodel to accommodate the new Medic 8 staff, and the city wasn’t working with an architect at that point.
“As we discussed the remodel and formalized the process with our workgroup and engaged with Rice Fergus Miller Architects, we took a more holistic approach with regard to considering the future as well as immediate needs for the station,” Hurley said. “We came up with a proposal with the preliminary drawings and scope, and that is what the cost estimator used for the estimate presented.”
Committee member Leatta Dahlhoff raised concerns about the level of priority for the station remodel when the city is already behind on constructing a new community center and a Maintenance and Operations facility. Finance Director Troy Niemeyer said the best option to get this work done is through a general obligation bond.
Niemeyer suggested the city take out a 20-year bond to cover project expenses, with an annual debt payment of $593,000, plus interest.
Hurley told The Olympian the plans will be presented to the full City Council at a later date, along with options on how to finance the station remodel. He said he couldn’t provide more information on how a bond might work and if a proposal would go to voters in a future election.
“We have had a preliminary discussion with the City Finance Director on potential funding options,” he said. “Once the scope of the project is finalized, we will work with the City Administrator and Finance Director to bring options to council for consideration.”
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