Superior Fire Hall close to construction
<p>The concept design for the new Superior Fire Hall that will be built behind the old schoolhouse.</p>
Construction of the new Superior Volunteer Fire Department fire hall is one step closer to reality.
“We have opened bids and have a contractor,” Superior Volunteer Fire Chief John Woodland said. “There are a number of prerequisites we have to go through with out funding agencies before we can actually sign the contract and get it rolling but we are in the process of doing that.”
The project is made possible by funding from the state of Montana as well as a bond approved by the town of Superior, which will be sold to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development. Both agencies have a series of requirements that Chief Woodland is in the process of fulfilling.
Chief Woodland said that he hopes the construction will begin on the new fire hall within the next 60 days. Given the condition of their current building, the new hall will be a much-welcomed upgrade.
“The building is in tough shape in a number of ways,” Chief Woodland said. “It’s really not functional for us.”
The current fire hall is filled to capacity with equipment and vehicles to the point where Chief Woodland said they have to store supplies underneath the backs of trucks since there is no additional room.
In the event of a training session at the current building, Chief Woodland said they start up one or two of the fire trucks and pull them outside before setting up chairs. The vehicles fill the building with fumes that the volunteers have to deal with while being trained.
“The other thing is, you have a call and depending on what’s going on at the courthouse there may not be any parking here for the volunteers, plus the conflict with the post office traffic,” Chief Woodland said.
The new fire hall, which will be built behind the old schoolhouse, will have a separate room for training purposes, along with a locker room, separate shop area, kitchenette and hot water.
Chief Woodland added that the building will also address a safety issue at the old fire hall in the form of making the vehicle bays drive-thru – meaning that vehicles don’t have to back into the bays which has been known to result in injury.
The fire hall is also being built in order to eventually add town offices to the building at what Chief Woodland calls a “minimal cost” to the town.