The first step to building a brand new fire station has been taken. On October 1st the Fort Myers Beach Fire Department entered into the Request for Qualification process to engage its Professional Design team.
Fire station 31, located on Estero Boulevard and Donora, was built back in 1951 and is obsolete. The department has been doing its best to renovate it over the years.
In early 2019 Fire Chief Matt Love was given the authority by the Fire Board to make an offer on land for a new building that the board would have to approve. In January of this year the Fire Board approved a $4 million contract to purchase the property that used to be home to Topps Supermarket at 2545 and 2555 Estero Blvd. After a 22-year run Topps closed in early 2018 when the owners lost their lease. The building was knocked down in April of 2019.
The professional design team for the new building will consist of a Site Development Planner and Engineer, along with Architectural services. It’s a statutorily defined process that local governments must follow to acquire professional design and construction professionals where the services will cross defined spending thresholds.
Fire Department officials expect the RFQ process to take run through early 2021 and once the design professionals are selected, a design of the building will follow.
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