A fire district in northern Summit County is working with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to find a new home.
The preliminary plan calls for the Valley Fire District that serves Peninsula and Boston Township to lease four acres of park land off Dogwood Drive and state Route 303 on the east side of Peninsula for a new fire station.
That possibility emerged as the preferred alternative by the National Park Service in an environmental assessment that looked at possible options.
Public comment is being accepted until Oct. 5.
Park officials will then narrow the options and perhaps proceed to negotiate a lease with fire officials, said Bill Carroll, deputy superintendent of the park.
''It's not a done deal -- at least not yet,'' he said.
The fire district is based in a building attached to the Boston Township School House on state Route 303 just east of Riverview Road. It has been looking at its building options for nearly 10 years.
The roof leaks and the fire department is responsible for repairs. The department also needs more space for training, showers and seven trucks.
Plans to expand at the current site were thwarted by neighbors and soils not conducive to a new septic system, officials said.
Finding other suitable sites was difficult because of topography, access to roads, the village's historical district and commercial areas, and the fact that the federal park surrounds the village.
Officials for the fire district and the national park also looked at putting a station at Camp Manatoc off Route 303 on the eastern edge of Peninsula and at the site of the old Richfield Coliseum off Route 303 west of Peninsula.
But park officials opted instead for the property at 5287 Dogwood Drive, across from the scout camp on the north side of Route 303.
The fire district can use one park-owned house on Dogwood Drive and can build an expansion or a new facility with minimal disruptions to the park and the environment, officials said.
The fire district won voter approval in June 2002 of a levy raising $400,000 to $500,000 for the expansion.
Fire Chief Charles Riedel was unavailable for comment.
The district provides fire protection in parts of the 33,000-acre federal park.
The federal report looking at options is available at a new Internet site: ParkPlanning.NPS.Gov. It is also available for public review from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at park headquarters, 15610 Vaughn Road, Brecksville. Comments should be sent to Superintendent John Debo at 15610 Vaughn Road, Brecksville, OH 44141.
For more information, contact park planner Jeff Winstel at 440-546-5927.
Distributed by the Associated Press
