Richmond plans to build its first fire station in 16 years and is eyeing a site that would be carved from Canoe Run Park on the South Side.
If approved by the City Council, a new Fire Station No. 17 would be constructed on Semmes Avenue near West 22nd Street, along the frontage to the 6-acre park. Canoe Run is an open, grassy site with an oval trail, a field for soccer and flag football and a playground. It opened in 1990 after the property was used as a landfill until the early 1980s.
The $4.6 million fire station would replace the small, one-story station at 2901 Bainbridge St., which was built in 1917 for horse-drawn equipment. That building has about 5,500 square feet -- about half of what's planned along Semmes, said Lt. Shawn Jones, a spokesman for the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
"The current parcel is too small to build a new station on," he said.
The fire station would be funded with $3.2 million from a federal stimulus grant and $1.4 million from the city. More than 6,000 applications were submitted for the federal funds, and the Richmond project was one of three approved from Virginia, Jones said. Construction of the station could start this summer and finish by September 2012.
The city hasn't determined how much land would be needed for the station and its parking lot, but it's probably 1 acre or less and it should not hurt the public's enjoyment of the park, said John R. Pope Jr., director of the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community facilities.
A section of the crushed-stone trail and a couple of exercise stations would have to be relocated. However, as part of the project, the park would get a new, weather-resistant trail with lighting. "There's a lot of good coming out of this," Pope said.
Greg Johnson, who lives in the Springhill neighborhood by Canoe Run, said he doesn't like the idea of losing parkland but sees advantages of having a modern fire station nearby.
"We welcome improvements to the property because there's not much there," he added.
A consultant for the city recommended the park site after considering the fire station's current location, as well as a vacant grocery store at Bainbridge and West 20th Street and a portion of Fonticello and Albert Carter Jones Park at 28th and Bainbridge, Jones said. Access to the new station is expected from Semmes and 22nd.
Jones said he had not realized until yesterday that the Canoe Run property was once a landfill. Officials could not immediately say whether that former use was considered in the site-review process.
Councilman E. Martin Jewell, whose 5th District includes the Semmes corridor, said he doesn't expect much opposition to the fire station even though the site is between the Springhill and Woodland Heights neighborhoods and some parkland would be lost.
"It's one city agency using [property from] another city agency," he said. "It's not like a private developer."
The council is scheduled to vote Feb. 22 on an ordinance that would authorize use of the parkland. The council's Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee will consider the matter Tuesday.
The station has been planned since at least the mid-1990s, Jones said. The last time Richmond built a fire station was 1994, when Fire Station No. 10 opened at 900 Hermitage Road.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.
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