Proposed Platteville Fire Facility Overview - November 2022

In February of 2021, Five Bugles Design along with Public Administration Associates presented during a Common Council Work Session at the Broske Event Center a finalized Platteville Fire Department Operational Overview as well as a space needs analysis for a new City of Platteville Fire Station. The presentation provided several organizational recommendations about considering the needs of the Platteville Fire Department for the next 50 years. Within the Space Needs Analysis portion of the Fire Department Comprehensive Analysis the study projected the need for a facility of around 31,900 square feet. The study reviewed three locations, the current site of the fire station, OE Gray Learning

In February of 2021, Five Bugles Design along with Public Administration Associates presented during a Common Council Work Session at the Broske Event Center a finalized Platteville Fire Department Operational Overview as well as a space needs analysis for a new City of Platteville Fire Station. The presentation provided several organizational recommendations about considering the needs of the Platteville Fire Department for the next 50 years. Within the Space Needs Analysis portion of the Fire Department Comprehensive Analysis the study projected the need for a facility of around 31,900 square feet. The study reviewed three locations, the current site of the fire station, OE Gray Learning Center, and the Platteville Armory. Here is a breakdown of each of the sites from the study:

1.  Current Fire Station

• 6 Apparatus nearly fills the site, 8 bays would completely take up the site
• No room for Apparatus Support
• No drive-through capabilities
• No on-site parking
• Structure would be several stories to accommodate program needs

2.  Platteville Armory

• The site does have good access to Water Street
• Potential room for training on site
• 6 apparatus bay nearly fills the site, 8 bay would completely take up the site
• Would require a three-story concept facility
• Challenges with parking
• Challenges with pedestrian traffic
• No room for future growth
• Limited or no room for additional training spaces

3.  OE Gray Learning Center

• Meets all program goals
• Has additional space for community room
• Has space for additional training on site
• Expressed existing facility will need to be razed due to age of building, decontamination
• requirements, cost to retrofit plumbing, electrical, HVAC, load requirements would be cost prohibitive.

When the Council made the official motion to purchase OE Gray Community Learning Center located at 155 W. Lewis Street in June of 2021 it was with the understanding the Fire Department Comprehensive Analysis report completed in February of 2021 identified the property as a location for a new fire station with the possibility for the property to serve other recreational or civic uses.

In May of 2022, the Common Council authorized the approval of Five Bugles design to be the architectural firm to provide professional designs services which would include schematic design, design development, construction documents, and bidding and construction administration services for a new fire station to be located at the current location of the OE Gray Community Learning Center. One aspect of the design was to consider whether the fire station could have additional training/spaces for service-based organizations. A Community Room space with a commercial kitchen has been proposed within the concept plan we will be discussing in more detail.

During the summer of 2022 City Staff have been working with Five Bugles Design on a concept plan for the new fire station. Five Bugles Design presented the results of those efforts at the Tuesday, November 8 Council meeting, and provided an opportunity to garner feedback from Council Members, Staff, and the community regarding the proposed concept plan.