Costs rise sharply for new area fire stations
By Dirk Werkman -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:32 pm PST Thursday, December 9, 2004
Building eight new fire stations will cost the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire
District nearly 30 percent more than first thought - $51 million instead of
the $40 million estimated in March 2003.
Higher land costs and increases in the price of
building materials are among the factors boosting the new station costs.
 Similar
cost increases are plaguing both public and private construction projects
throughout the nation, Chuck Horel, project manager for the building
program, told the Metro Fire board Wednesday.
"The cost of construction is just going nuts,"
said Gregory A. Granados, Metro fire board vice president.
Horel told the board the increased cost of
materials are being affected by a "tremendous building in China," where
projects equivalent to the size of the city of London are under way, he
said.
Construction bids for the first two stations,
No. 32 at Hazel Avenue and Roediger Lane in Fair Oaks, and No. 107 at
Eastern Avenue and Berrendo Drive in the Arden-Carmichael area, are
scheduled to be considered in February.
The new station 32, to be built on the site of
an existing station, is estimated to cost $4.5 million, and station 107,
which will replace two other stations in the community, is expected to cost
$3.7 million. Construction on both stations is scheduled to begin in spring
2005 and be completed a year later.
New replacement stations are also planned in
Rio Linda, North Highlands, Orangevale, Rosemont and the Bradshaw-Vintage
Park areas. A fire station also is planned for the Rancho Cordova area, near
Douglas Road and Sunrise Boulevard.
For more details, see Friday's Bee.
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