A plan is moving forward for the construction of a new multi-million-dollar fire station in Colorado Springs that will go up on the growing north side of the city.
What will be officially designated as Station Number 24 will go up on a 4.7-acre site at the intersection of New Life Drive and Interquest Parkway.
Members of the city’s Planning Commission have now given their approval to rezoning the site in question for the project, which has been in the talking stage for the last 3 years.
The proposed 12,000-square-foot facility will include a bay area, kitchen, lounging space for firefighters, restrooms, and office space.
It is thought that it may cost upwards to $10 million to build the structure. The Colorado Springs Fire Department has purchased for some $550,000 the land needed to build the station from a residential development known as La Plata Communities.
According to city records, a move towards building a new station on the north side was spurred as a result of a “significant amount of new construction that was already underway and planned in that area of the community.”
As planned, the new facility will provide coverage for what is currently an 8-mile gap on the north side of the city that is not immediately served by a fire station.
Colorado Springs has seen a population jump of around 12% in the last two decades, from 360,000 to more than 486,000. A large chunk of that growth, at better than 15%, has taken place on the north side.
By Garry Boulard
