City of Columbia purchases land for new fire station in southwest Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The purchase of land was finalized last week for a new fire station in southwest Columbia.

The future home of Columbia Fire Department fire station 11 is at the northwest corner of Scott Boulevard and Route K.

A 2018 Community Risk Analysis conducted by the Columbia Fire Department that included data analysis and development trends, identified southwest Columbia as one of two areas where a fire station would have the greatest impact on emergency response times benefiting our community. Specifically, the report found that a fire station located in the southwest area would have a direct impact on 182 emergency response calls.

"A new fire station in this area will more evenly allocate our resources to a growing segment of our community and have a positive impact on overall response times," Columbia Fire Chief Andy Woody said. "Voters expressed their support of additional fire stations with the passage of the 2015 Capital Improvement Sales Tax extension. We appreciate the continued support of our community and the council to ensure vital emergency services grow with our city."

Construction on the new fire station should begin in the next sixty days and is expected to last approximately twelve months.

The investment in the land was $347,027 and investment in the fire station is estimated to be $2 million dollars. Funding is from the 2015 Capital Improvement Sale Tax Extension approved by voters in 2014.

Requests for proposals for the architect and general contractor are being evaluated and a contract is expected to be awarded by mid to late fall.