New digs on the horizon for Grant County Fire District No. 8
MATTAWA — The T’s have been crossed and the I’s dotted on the sale and purchase of 10 acres north of Mattawa for the construction of the new headquarters for Grant County Fire District No. 8. Chief David Patterson said the station has been a long time coming.
“Our current building is about 40 years old,” Patterson said. “There are no resident quarters and none of our bays are long enough to accommodate a ladder truck.”
The fire district purchased the land for $290,000. The new 15,000 square foot structure Patterson said will cost close to $3 million. It will be built near the Gingko Forest Winery off the intersection of Route 243 and Road 22.5 Southwest.
The building will be big enough to accommodate resident quarters and the future ladder truck the chief is seeking. The location, Patterson said, will allow for quicker response times as well.
“With the growth coming into the area we’ll be right in the middle of it so we’ll definitely see decreased response times — better visibility and better access. Currently being in the center of Mattawa there are times during the day that it’s nearly impossible to get out into traffic (on Government Road) when school gets out with all the busses and kids in the crosswalks — and the workers coming in from the fields at the same time you can actually have a five-to-six block back up in front of the station.”
GCFD 8 currently has four paid staff members and 25 volunteers servicing 248 square miles.
The deal with the Port finalized last week. Plans are in the works to put a bid out for an architect, engineer and a general contractor.
Funding for the land and construction of the new station Patterson said will come for a combination of reserves, grants and bonding. He expects to break ground in 2019 and for the project to be complete near the end on 2020.
Director of the Port of Mattawa Lars Laland said the funds from the land sale will be used to help improve its industrial parks and, “Hopefully add a new building for business development.”
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