Wait for firehouses burns up more time
Publication:
The Oregonian
The Oregonian
Date of publication:
November 24, 2005
November 24, 2005
Publication type:
Newspaper article
Newspaper article
Copyright citation:
Copyright © 2005 Oregonian Publishing Co.
Copyright © 2005 Oregonian Publishing Co.
Authority:
Cited under “Fair Use,” Title 17 US Code § 107
Cited under “Fair Use,” Title 17 US Code § 107
Title:
Wait for firehouses burns up more time
Wait for firehouses burns up more time
Byline:
Fred Leeson
Fred Leeson
Citation:
Southwest residents expected two new fire stations when voters approved a Portland Fire Bureau bond measure in 1998.
Seven years later, there's no sign of either one.
The Fire Bureau has acquired two sites, but whether there will be two new stations or just one remains to be seen. The answer is expected sometime next year.
Fire Marshal John Klum says the bureau delayed relocation of Fire Station 18, now in Multnomah, and construction of a new Fire Station 21 because of inflation in the construction industry. Both stations had been planned to be built this year. The bond measure included money to cover a 3.5 percent inflation rate. But Klum says many bids were running 8 percent to 30 percent higher.
Meanwhile, the City Council asked the bureau to study population growth and partnerships with suburban fire units to see whether adequate response times can be achieved with one new station instead of two. The bureau last updated its station location evaluation in 1997. The new review is to be completed by March 1.
Geography is also an issue. "Southwest Portland is unique," Klum says. "There are limited primary and secondary response routes."
The new location for Station 18 would be on Southwest Capitol Highway just south of Barbur Boulevard. Station 21, if it is built, would be near the intersection of Southwest Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Shattuck Road.
After the city decides how many stations to build, station advisory committees that helped pick the sites will be reconstituted to participate in selection of architects and engineers, and the specific designs.
"We don't just do cookie-cutter fire stations," Klum says. He cited the new Fire Station 16 at Sylvan as an example of a modern station with what he called an efficient drive-through design.
Michael Kisor, chairman of Southwest Neighborhood Inc.'s emergency preparedness committee, wants the city to explore a structure called a monolithic dome as a potential station design. The domes, made of insulated reinforced concrete, are notable for their strength and energy efficiency. Churches and schools have been built with the dome technology, but as yet no fire stations.
The domed buildings in hurricane country handily survived Katrina and its kin. Kisor says they are safe in earthquakes, too, because they absorb shock uniformly rather than accentuating stresses in corners, as is the case with traditional construction.
Kisor thinks the city's building code provisions against earthquakes aren't sufficient against a magnitude 9 earthquake that could be in the works from movements in the Cascadia subduction zone off the Oregon Coast. The monolithic domes, he says, probably would survive.
Would an unusual-looking domed fire station be welcome in Southwest neighborhoods? "Given that they would become disaster shelters in a major earthquake, they become much more beautiful," Kisor says.
"Portland would be taking the lead" in building a domed fire station, Kisor says. "People never want to be the first, but sometimes Portland has been known to be a leader."
Southwest residents expected two new fire stations when voters approved a Portland Fire Bureau bond measure in 1998.
Seven years later, there's no sign of either one.
The Fire Bureau has acquired two sites, but whether there will be two new stations or just one remains to be seen. The answer is expected sometime next year.
Fire Marshal John Klum says the bureau delayed relocation of Fire Station 18, now in Multnomah, and construction of a new Fire Station 21 because of inflation in the construction industry. Both stations had been planned to be built this year. The bond measure included money to cover a 3.5 percent inflation rate. But Klum says many bids were running 8 percent to 30 percent higher.
Meanwhile, the City Council asked the bureau to study population growth and partnerships with suburban fire units to see whether adequate response times can be achieved with one new station instead of two. The bureau last updated its station location evaluation in 1997. The new review is to be completed by March 1.
Geography is also an issue. "Southwest Portland is unique," Klum says. "There are limited primary and secondary response routes."
The new location for Station 18 would be on Southwest Capitol Highway just south of Barbur Boulevard. Station 21, if it is built, would be near the intersection of Southwest Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Shattuck Road.
After the city decides how many stations to build, station advisory committees that helped pick the sites will be reconstituted to participate in selection of architects and engineers, and the specific designs.
"We don't just do cookie-cutter fire stations," Klum says. He cited the new Fire Station 16 at Sylvan as an example of a modern station with what he called an efficient drive-through design.
Michael Kisor, chairman of Southwest Neighborhood Inc.'s emergency preparedness committee, wants the city to explore a structure called a monolithic dome as a potential station design. The domes, made of insulated reinforced concrete, are notable for their strength and energy efficiency. Churches and schools have been built with the dome technology, but as yet no fire stations.
The domed buildings in hurricane country handily survived Katrina and its kin. Kisor says they are safe in earthquakes, too, because they absorb shock uniformly rather than accentuating stresses in corners, as is the case with traditional construction.
Kisor thinks the city's building code provisions against earthquakes aren't sufficient against a magnitude 9 earthquake that could be in the works from movements in the Cascadia subduction zone off the Oregon Coast. The monolithic domes, he says, probably would survive.
Would an unusual-looking domed fire station be welcome in Southwest neighborhoods? "Given that they would become disaster shelters in a major earthquake, they become much more beautiful," Kisor says.
"Portland would be taking the lead" in building a domed fire station, Kisor says. "People never want to be the first, but sometimes Portland has been known to be a leader."
Additional references:
Author: Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com
Section: Metro Portland Neighbors: In Portland
Page: 12
Author: Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com
Section: Metro Portland Neighbors: In Portland
Page: 12