Downtown Fargo Fire Station Needs Updates
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The Fargo Fire Department says their downtown station is cramped and requires a lot of maintenance.
That’s why they’re looking to remodel the building at a cost of around $3 million.
Leaking, patches and asbestos ridden spaces are only a few of the reasons why the Fargo Fire Department says they need a better place to work.
“We’ve noticed that our space needs had changed and it was time to do some updating. We’ve had some issues with the building. We have had plumbing problems and leaks for years,” said Fargo Fire Department Chief Steven Dirksen.
Jason Gisselbeck is a captain with the department and he says the proposed remodeling of the station would help out a lot.
“Right now just kind of falling apart. Just a lot of the probably the water lines and sewer lines and stuff like that and just you know the windows need to be placed and things like that, just normal wear and tear,” said Gisselbeck.
The city commission recently approved a $3 million plan for remodeling the downtown station.
Now the department has to figure out how to pay for it.
Some options: financing through a bank loan, or get the money through city bonding.
The fire department says they constantly preform maintenance on their building like patching up the cracks on the outside of their building and making more patches to the buildings plumbing and power generation.
The full remodel would help fix electric, plumbing, and heating and it would help remove the existing asbestos.
“Pretty dangerous, I mean it’s a carcinogen. You know I don’t have the numbers on it but it is a carcinogen that you don’t want to mess with,” said Gisselbeck.
The next steps for the project include getting the contracts and putting the remodeling up for bid.
When the remodeling begins, Fire Chief Dirksen estimates the project to take 12–14 months.
