Tualatin Awards Contract for New Fire Station

TVF&R's response time goal is to have its first unit on scene within six minutes of being dispatched.

The design of the new fire station in Tualatin is depicted in these images, a larger example is located below the story.

(TUALATIN, Ore) - The Board of Directors for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) has awarded a contract for construction of a new fire station to First Cascade Corporation of Lake Oswego. The winning bid was $2,744,535 for the station to be built at 12585 SW Walnut Street. The architects of Peck Smiley Ettlin of Portland designed the 11,700-square-foot facility.

The building will feature an over-sized community room for neighborhood group meetings, partially funded by the City of Tigard, which has joined with the Fire District on the project.

The portion of the 3.3 acre lot not used by the fire station will contain an enlarged parking lot for the community room and public access to Jack Park, which abuts the property to the north.

"We're extremely pleased with this bid because it was so close to the estimate staff had put together," said Board President Clark Balfour. Directors approved the contract at their regular meeting on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008.

"We have a good track record with First Cascade since they built Fire Station 60 on Cornell Road in 1996," said Gary Wells, TVF&R Director of Facilities.

The building will utilize many energy-saving techniques throughout. TVF&R expects the new station will earn a gold level certification from LEED, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

The new Walnut Street fire station, designated as Station 50, will serve citizens in north Tigard and the east side of Bull Mountain in unincorporated Washington County.

"Due to rapid growth, our response times to those neighborhoods from our existing stations have increased to over eight minutes," said Fire Chief Jeff Johnson.

TVF&R's response time goal is to have its first unit on scene within six minutes of being dispatched.

Chief Johnson added, "We are a data-driven organization and we will add a new fire station only when the data shows we need one." The new station marks the first time in 10 years that TVF&R has added a station.

Funding for the new station comes from a $77.5-million dollar bond program that Fire District voters approved in 2006. The first project under that program was the upgrade and expansion of the Brockman Road Station 66 in South Beaverton which was completed in December 2007.

A formal ground breaking ceremony for Station 50 is set for March 18th at noon with Board members, TVF&R staff, and City of Tigard leadership in attendance. The public is invited to attend.