Contractor Selected to Build Fire Station

Reporter Andrea Uhde - The Courier Journal

La Grange Fire and Rescue recently selected a contractor to build its $4.1million fire station on Ky. 53. Construction could get under way in the next month.

Maj. Keith Smith said the department signed a letter of intent June 3 with AML Inc. General Contractors, a Floyds Knobs, Ind., business that submitted the lowest of 14 bids for the new building.
The contract will be final after the department sells enough bonds on June 17 to pay for the building, Smith said.

Department attorney Jim Williamson said he believes the bonds will go through without a problem. He said the bonds could total up to $4.6 million, but will probably be closer to the cost of the building.
Williamson said the construction could start as soon as July. "Thirty days from now, I wouldn't be surprised if they're breaking ground," he said.

Aric Andrew, the architect who designed the new station, said it will have 20,000 square feet on its first floor, with eight dormitories, seven offices, a training room, a kitchen and a media lounge. It also will have five bays with space for nine firetrucks. The basement will span 6,000 square feet, most of which will remain unfinished for expansion. The basement will include a fitness room. "It's a totally unique design to their needs," said Andrew, of Scott-Klausing & Co. in La Grange. He said the building will be "very cost-effective and energy-efficient," with natural light, geothermal heating and cooling and radiant heating on the floors where the trucks are stored. The design will save heating and cooling expenses, he said.

Andrew said he helped select AML Inc., which has worked on two stations in Jeffersonville, Ind.
"They were the lowest bid, and of course their qualifications met our needs," he said. He said the highest bid was around $4.7 million.

Smith said the new station will replace a much smaller one at Second and Main streets that is around 20 years old and doesn't have dorm rooms. The new facility will be on 5.3 acres on Ky.53 near Madison Street. The department purchased the property for $350,000 in 2008. The station will allow the department eventually to have workers on 24-hour shifts, he said. Right now, they do 12-hour shifts, but the dorm rooms will allow firefighters to stay overnight.

The La Grange and Ballardsville fire protection districts annexed the city of LaGrange in 2008, which allowed them to levy a tax of 10 cents for every $100 of assessed property value. Previously, the city had given the districts money through its general fund.

City Councilwoman Jean Knight said the city needs the new fire station. "It's time for it to be done," she said. "I think it's a great thing they're doing. "She said she's heard from some residents who fear the response to fires in the city will change. "They don't understand," she said. "They'll still be in LaGrange."

Reporter Andrea Uhde can be reached at (502) 582-4663.