Wednesday, June 29, 2005

New fire and police station gets green light in BF

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms By this time next year, Bosque Farms will have a new fire and police station — a project that has been in the works for several years.

Thanks to a $1 million legislative appropriation this year, Bosque Farms officials and residents are looking forward to the day when construction will begin.

According to Daniel Chavez, the project manager for Rohde May Keller McNamara Architecture in Albuquerque, ground breaking for the 8,300-square-foot complex is tentatively scheduled for early August.

During a June 16 village council meeting, the governing body unanimously voted to approve the architectural plans for the new $1.5 million complex. While a contractor has yet to be selected, Chavez said that the building should take about eight months to build.

The effort to build a new fire and police station began several years ago when Walt Shoemaker, the former fire chief requested that the council lobby the legislature for funds for a new fire station. The effort shifted a few years later when the village council started planning on looking at ways to construct a combined fire and police station.

Three years ago, the state legislature appropriated $275,000 for the complex. Another $200,000 was allocated a year later. But it wasn't until this year when the village received $1 million from the legislature that the idea could become a reality.

The fire department is currently housed in a small building just east of Bosque Farms Elementary School while the police station is located in a small office at the municipal complex on West Bosque Loop. Because the availability of land was limited, the village decided to re-plan the four acres of the municipal complex to incorporate the new fire and police station.

"The new fire and police stations, although housed in one continuous building, are designed as separate entities with two different programs and images," Chavez said. "The fire station is a utilitarian building by function and drives the program of the building.

"By this, the fire station dictates the arrangement and re-planning of the site as the fire trucks demand certain turning radii and height requirements. The police station portion of the building is more public-oriented and is smaller in scale," Chavez said.

The new building, which will be located where the village's maintenance yard now is situated, will connect with the existing municipal complex through the use of an architectural wall. Chavez said the wall of the police station will be extended to enclose a shaded courtyard and a water feature.

The maintenance yard will be relocated to an area west of the new fire and police station along with a newly constructed holding pond.

"The architecture of the fire and police station is essentially New Mexican but avoids the clichés of typical Southwestern architecture. Instead, it reflects the agrarian history of true New Mexican architecture by responding to the needs of its users and by its use of honest materials such as standing seam metal and concrete block which is plaster with a rich clay red and straw stucco," Chavez said.

"The courtyard will be the focus of the complex and is accessed by large sliding wood doors, becoming the new entrance into the old municipal complex as well as the new police station."

Chavez told the council and the residents who attended the June 16 meeting that he envisions the courtyard as a place where people can come and enjoy arts-and-crafts shows. He also said the whole look of the municipal complex will become a more eye-catching site.

One of those who is most eager and grateful for the new building is Police Chief Joe Stidham. He said not only will the complex be a morale booster for his officers, but it will also serve as a recruiting tool for the department.

"But, most importantly, it's going to allow us to operate efficiently in a full-scale police department instead of the 600-square-foot hole we are in now," Stidham said. "It will allow adequate office space for supervisors, for records and we'll have an actual reception area."

While the new police station won't have a holding cell, a feature that Stidham and the committee were all too willing to waive, it will house a state-of-the-art evidence room as well as a room specifically designed to test the blood alcohol level for anyone suspected of DWI. Currently, officers transport suspects either to the Los Lunas or Isleta police departments for testing.

"We are extremely excited — we can't wait," Stidham said. "We've been pushing for this for a long time. We are all grateful to our representatives and to our senator for all they've done. It's been a concerted effort by everybody to get this building going. I'm also thankful to Mayor Wayne Ake — he's been behind this project since he was a councilor and he made it a priority since he's been mayor.

"The council has also been extremely supportive, especially in this past year, by approving plans and allocating space," Stidham said. "I am very thankful to the mayor and council."

Bosque Farms Fire Chief Spencer Wood is also ecstatic about the new building. Currently, the all-volunteer department houses its equipment in a small building which has seen better times, Wood said.

"Our current fire station was built in the early '60s and it was 25 years ago that they added a third bay to it," Wood said. "The space inside is very minimal — we have no training room and the office is pretty small."

Not only does the fire station's roof leak and the electrical system is dilapidated, but the amount of parking space around the structure forces firefighters to park in the street.

"This will be a much better situation," Wood said.

The new building, which is designated for space for the fire department, will be big enough to not only store all the department's fire equipment and vehicles, but also allows for sleeping quarters for firefighters.

While the 21-member volunteer department currently doesn't run an emergency medical services unit, Wood said the new complex is being built so that, one day, that could be added on.

"I think it's fantastic for the community and very good for the department itself," Wood said of the new building. "We can't wait to get to move in there. I'm just tickled to death."

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