Springville fire station to open with hose-cutting

SPRINGVILLE — Most new buildings open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but the new fire station in Springville will be dedicated Saturday with the cutting of a fire hose.

"It's tradition," said Springville Fire Chief Phil Whitney. "We're a fire department. We cut hoses."

The dedication starts at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. Adults and kids alike are invited to tour the station, climb aboard the firetrucks and ask firefighters questions, said Springville Police Lt. David Caron.

The new $2.6 million, 20,000-square-foot fire station, with four drive-through fire bays, replaces one built in the 1960s. Whitney says there wasn't enough room in the old station to walk between the firetrucks or store all of the equipment. The new building also provides more office and training space.

"It dresses up downtown tremendously," Whitney said of the new fire station. "It gives us more of an attractive city park and downtown area that will serve the community."

The station, which took about a year to build, was designed with expansion in mind, he said. There is room for a 4,000-square-foot living quarters to be built, which would allow the station to have a 24-hour response team if and when demand for it increases.

Springville has been on an aggressive savings program in anticipation of building the new facility, Caron said. For the past eight years, the city has been saving between $500,000 and $1 million each year to go toward the fire station and a new civic center, which is under construction, said Troy Fitzgerald, city administrator.

The civic center will be home to Springville's police, courts, public works, community development and the city administration. The current facilities were constructed in 1964 and are falling apart, said Scott Finlayson, director of public safety and chief of police.

The civic center project has a $11.6 million price tag, and city officials hope to have the building completed and ready for an open house by Sept. 18 — the city's anniversary.

About two-thirds of the project was paid for through the city's savings, Fitzgerald said, and the rest of the money came through tax-free municipal bonds sold to investors.

The city plans to build a new library and city park in place of the current fire station and civic center, Finlayson said.

The new fire station will be the only one in Springville, serving 30,000 residents. In the fall, a second station will open near Hobble Creek Canyon, Caron said. City officials are also looking to build a third fire station in the west part of the city in the next couple of years.

E-MAIL: slenz@desnews.com