Community Government Police & Fire

New Kimball fire station making way through approval process

A new Kimball Drive firehouse will capture elements of Gig Harbor’s maritime history, though its unveiling has been restrained.

The 1979-built Fire Station 51 will be torn down and a new 22,000 square-foot, two-story facility erected in its place. The $22 million project is part of Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One’s $80 million capital improvement bond passed by voters in August 2022. The plan also includes a live-fire training center and remodeling of four other stations.

Gunnar Gladics, partner at station designer Rice Fergus Miller Architecture of Bremerton, said city standards largely drove the new firehouse’s appearance. But his team also surveyed older city buildings to make sure it would fit with the town’s historic look and feel.

The department and architects sought a design that meshes with the community and tips its hat to its fishing tradition, said Fire Chief Dennis Doan.

Station 51 on Kimball Drive today. Photo by Ed Friedrich

“Rice Fergus Miller has done an excellent job balancing the operational needs of a modern fire station with a look and feel that reflects the character of Gig Harbor,” he said. “The final design is professional, functional and fits well into the surrounding neighborhood.”

The project will include a pocket park along Kimball Drive. It’s a busy pedestrian route for those who use the park-and-ride lot, Cushman Trail and other amenities. The new public space will offer a reflection area and tribute to emergency responders, with landscaping, benches, bicycle parking, art and fire elements.

Operations, firefighter health top priorities

Rice Fergus Miller’s top priorities are improving operations and firefighter well-being.

“The main purpose is to modernize the response and create space for future capacity as the community continues to grow,” Gladics said. “This station is not only to help the community but to address new standards in firefighter safety and wellness so they can do their jobs over a long career.”

Once contractors completed renovations late last year on Fox Island and Crescent Valley fire stations, Doan became anxious to get going on Station 51. The architects, who specialize in fire facilities and had worked with the city before, projected the approval process would be finished and the project could go to bid in December. Adding cushion, they bumped it until after the holidays. It’ll be months in coming.

The city of Gig Harbor’s Design Review Board sent the architects back for changes after a Jan. 23 meeting and was about to again on Feb. 27 before Doan spoke out.

Architectural sketch of how Station 51 will look in the future.

“To put this (design review) at the end of the process (after having the design for six months) and keep going back to the drawing board is ridiculous,” he said. “We can’t continue down this road, nitpicking and costing the taxpayers a lot of money.”

The board was hung up on details like the size of the station number, siding material and placement of the front door, Doan said. He threatened to appeal if the design wasn’t approved. The board approved it with recommendations.

City Community Development Director Eric Baker said required code changes made the proposed schedule “very aggressive.” Deviations necessitated additional review, including by the design review board, for perimeter buffers, parking and lighting standards.

Deviations caused delays, says city

“A project would have needed to adhere strictly to city codes and include no back and forth between staff and the district’s consultants to meet that timeline,” said Baker, who was hired on Jan. 13. This project was not straightforward and required revisions throughout 2024 and early 2025. Staff scheduled review meetings to address the project’s timing needs and removed permit process where appropriate while maintaining city code intent, he said.

The fire station is in an important area where the city plans to grow around key transit, highway and other facilities.

“As a Center of Local Importance, we are promoting redevelopment of this area including multi-family housing, shopping and employment opportunities which over the next 20 years will bring greater development to this area,” Baker said. “This project needs to be reviewed taking into account that broader perspective.”

A couple other time-consuming “challenges” featured streetlights and parking.

The city is requiring the fire district to install streetlights not only on its side of Kimball Drive but on the opposite side. That comprises four new poles and new light fixtures on four existing poles. Doan called the condition ridiculous and not standard practice.

Another look at the existing Station 51. Photo by Ed Friedrich

“This requirement adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project, which we believe is unnecessary and unfair,” he said. “However, to avoid further delays, we’ve agreed to move forward under protest.”

Project constraints could require lighting on both sides of the roadway to meet safety standards for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians, Baker said.

“We are working with the district’s consultants to reach a timely resolution,” he said.

Lots of parking spaces

The city’s demand for an increase to 51 parking spaces also slowed progress. The requirement is based on square footage, not the building’s function as a fire station, Doan said. The station currently is staffed by three firefighters, two paramedics and a battalion chief. At shift change, 12 vehicles could be using the parking lot. Personnel will eventually number 11 when the facility is fully staffed.

“They’re requiring 51 parking spots that we have to put in this place,” Doan said. “We’re going to use six of them. They wouldn’t budge from that one, either.”

There will be less traffic than in the past because Station 51 once served as district headquarters and housed command and support staff, supplies and public space. Those moved to a new administration building on Bujacich Road.

The review process, and Doan’s disposition, improved after City Administrator Katrina Knutson, Mayor Mary Barber and Baker became involved.

Fire station 51 on Kimball Drive.

“Since the mayor and Eric have stepped in, we’ve seen some improvement in communication and movement,” Doan said. “Other than the issues with streetlighting and parking, the rest of the process has moved a little faster. They said they can’t fix the past, but they can help the future.”

Rice Fergus Miller designs fire facilities across the Northwest. Regulatory processes differ from state to state, but Washington’s tend to take more time and effort, Gladics said.

“We’ve done a lot of Pierce County fire facilities in the last five years and encountered similar challenges in almost all of them,” he said.

The mayor promised an April 1 meeting, and delivered. During a public hearing that day, Hearing Examiner Mark Scheibmeir heard a staff report and recommendation for conditional use permit approval from Senior Planner Jeremy Hammar. The design review board’s recommendations have been incorporated into project approval, Hammar said.

“We’re happy about how this project is taking shape,” he said.

Conditional use permit approved

The project needed a conditional use permit because the city couldn’t find the permit for the existing building’s construction and a small portion of the property is zoned multiple family residential, which doesn’t allow fire stations, Scheibmeir and Hammar said.

Scheibmeir questioned Hammar and Doan, and approved the permit. No citizen attended the hearing, nor did anybody submit a written comment.

“There has been no public opposition to this application, and I have no problem approving the conditional use permit. It’s an obvious one,” Scheibmeir said. “… I find nothing that is disturbing or worrisome about this development.”

The hearing examiner recognizes the Planning Department still must perform a major site plan review during which the project will undergo a SEPA review where its traffic, lighting and other impacts will be more closely analyzed. The EPA wants a soil sample to check for arsenic or lead contamination from the former Tacoma ASARCO smelter. They need Scheibmeir’s written decision before proceeding.

“It’s a great project. I think it’s a great thing for the city, and I’ll get to it as quickly as I can,” he said. He completed the task on Thursday, April 3.

Construction could begin in late fall

Doan hopes to clear remaining hurdles and seek bids in early July. The bid request must be posted for 30 days.

“Usually from the time you go out to bid to when you give the company the OK to proceed takes about two months,” Doan said. “Then the company has to gear up. We’re looking at late fall or early winter before we get to construction.”

The fire district estimates annual cost escalation at 6 to 8% because of inflation, labor costs and rising prices for construction materials, Doan said. Six percent of $22 million is $1.32 million. The design review delays resulted in extra architectural fees. New federal tariffs are a wild card and could further drive up material costs.

“The city fully understands that “time is money” with capital projects,” Baker said. “We see it with every road, sewer and water improvement we construct. Staff is committed to streamlining this process for the district to minimize costs to the taxpayer while ensuring its consistency with the city’s future vision and quality of life.”