Plans for a substantial addition to Oxford Fire Station #1, located at 96 N. Washington St., were approved 4-0 last week by the village planning commission.
Site plan approval was conditioned on the fire department submitting a landscape plan for administrative review/approval and all of the issues raised by the village engineer being addressed within 10 days.
A 3,900-square-foot addition to the station’s north side is what the fire department is looking to build.
Drawn by the Novi-based Sidock Architects, the plans show separate locker rooms and bunk rooms (with a total of six beds) for male and female personnel, a kitchen, dining room, day room, an area for turnout gear, storage space, an outdoor patio and an office/bunk space for the officer in charge.
Below the addition will be a new 1,029-square-foot partial basement that includes a fitness area where firefighters can exercise and plenty of additional storage space.
Right now, the station, which is staffed 24-7, has male and female firefighters sharing a 10-foot-by-10-foot sleeping area with only two beds. ‘It’s not good to have males and females sharing the same room in close quarters like that,? said Fire Chief Pete Scholz.
Scholz said the room has ‘no windows? and ‘no ventilation,? so it’s ‘rather depressing.? It’s actually a converted office space.
‘That used to be the fire inspector’s office,? Scholz said.
The station’s current kitchen/day room used to be two storage closets until their conversion.
The original design for Station #1 included separate sleeping quarters for fire personnel along with kitchen and dining areas, but budgetary issues that arose during construction led to the elimination of those spaces.
To fund the addition, both the fire department and township government are dipping into their reserves (i.e. fund balances). Each is contributing $425,000 to the project.
Construction bids are due by 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16. Once the township board awards the contract, Scholz is hoping work will begin ‘as soon as possible.?
‘In the bid specifications, we put in there that it must be completed by June 30,? the chief said.