City of Emporia Leadership recently made a significant change related to the design and future construction of Emporia’s new fire station, however, it does not appear that change will have any effect on the project’s timeline.
That’s according to Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking who joined KVOE’s Talk of Emporia for the monthly Q&A With Trey segment Monday morning. During that time, Cocking announced the city decided to switch architecture firms for the design phase of the city’s new fire station.
Cocking says the change in firms was first and foremost a cost-saving move for the city.
According to Cocking, the city’s new firm GMLV, soon to be known as Tessere, came in with a quote that was roughly $250,000 lower than the city’s original firm. Cocking adds GMLV is a great choice for the city given its proficiency in “hospitality work.”
Emporia City Commissioners will consider the contract with GMLV during their regular action meeting Wednesday morning.
As KVOE News has reported over the past several months the current facility at 120 East Fifth Avenue has seen significant deterioration and a lack of space to accommodate evolving equipment for the past several years. The new fire station is just one phase of a larger project that will also see updates to Fire Station 2 located on Industrial Road in West Emporia. Full details on those plans are currently pending.
If all goes according to plan, GMLV will move almost immediately into the final design phase with plans to break ground on the new fire station by late summer. The new and improved fire station will address many pressing needs for the Emporia Fire Department including providing additional space.
Summertime is also when the city hopes to begin physical work on the city’s new Whittier Skate Park.
Cocking says final designs on that project should be completed by next month. Cocking says there is no exact date for completion at the moment, however, he is hopeful work on the skate park project could be complete by the end of 2024.
The skate park project has been in talks for several years following residents’ requests to see an update to the current Santa Fe skate park. Original plans were to have the new project located at Santa Fe, however, following lease negotiations with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, the decision was made to move the project to Whittier in 2022.
Back in December, Emporia City Commissioners approved a $250,000 drawdown from the Lake Kahola Fund which will be combined with an anonymous $250,000 donation made back in October of 2021 giving the project $500,000 total. Emporia City Commissioners have stated their desire to use the skate park as the starting point for future expansion in Whittier.
