Is Your Fire Station Vision Viable? Understand the Uses of Feasibility Studies

Your fire service needs to evolve, but what actually needs to happen next? Do you need to buy land? How should you determine to renovate your facility, add to it, or build new? Should you continue with the number of stations in their current locations, consolidate locations, or add more facilities? Do you need a modern emergency operations center or public safety answering point? How about an upgraded or new training facility?

For answers to these questions and many more, contracting for a feasibility study is often the first step in the process of documenting, enhancing, rethinking, or modernizing your physical facilities. Public safety leaders are often asked to make facility decisions long before the path forward is clear. That uncertainty is precisely where a feasibility study becomes critical. However, defining what a feasibility study is and what it can accomplish differs greatly based on your needs. Understanding the process, and how qualified professionals can best support your potential projects, can ultimately position you to make confident, informed decisions.

Why conduct a feasibility study?

While the prevailing thought is that feasibility studies help support your efforts in showcasing the need for a new station, these comprehensive, operations-based and data-driven studies can evaluate a variety of factors and produce a vast array of potential solutions, including station consolidation, equipment upgrades, or possible upgrades to current stations.

Misconceptions, preconceived notions, or a general lack of awareness regarding the scope and value of feasibility studies can set departments back. It is crucial to understand the value of these studies from the onset of a potential project, and to contact a qualified design professional as soon as thoughts of these improvements begin to develop.

An example of this process is the Massapequa Fire District in New York. The Board of Fire Commissioners spent multiple years evaluating its facilities to determine the best course

of action for its existing Park House Station. The station, built in 1953 with multiple additions over the years, was not compliant with current building codes or well-suited for modern firefighting practices, including preventing carcinogenic cross-contamination. 

After evaluating whether renovation or new construction would best meet the community’s expanding needs and support its first responders, designers concluded that a significant renovation was needed. The Board chose to design a new station but required the adaptation and reuse of the original hose drying tower as a prominent feature in the new design.

This process resulted in a new 21,600-square-foot station comprising seven bays, integrated hands-on training, decontamination spaces, company offices, fitness facilities, a training classroom, rehab support, and large multipurpose room.

Whether you have visions of a brand-new fire station, would like to redesign your station’s bunking situation, or are seeking advice on the purchase of land for the development of a new facility, a feasibility study determines the deficiencies that currently exist and highlights the challenges that could arise from pushing the problem further down the road. Simply put, these studies aim to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of a potential project and provide your department and municipal leaders with the insights needed to determine if a project should move forward, be modified from the original concept, or be shelved entirely.

How these studies help build support

It’s important to note that feasibility studies do not necessarily show favorable results. Ambitions to construct a new station or acquire land may be extinguished by the factors identified within the study. In these situations, it’s important to communicate findings with taxpayers, regardless of their position on the proposed work. 

If the community is largely in favor of the construction of a new station, but a feasibility study recommends retrofitting the current station, it is key to present this information through various avenues, including at regularly scheduled municipal meetings. 

When discussing important updates, the design team and design committee must communicate with both sides of the fence. Detractors of a potential project can possess as much key insight as supporters. While one side may not be pleased with the results from a feasibility study, they will appreciate those results being openly communicated, especially if the proposed project requires bond approval or an increase in capital improvement budgets. 

It's also important to understand that feasibility studies are designed to provide objective guidance, not to dictate outcomes. Even if the results of a study align with your vision, it’s ultimately up to municipal leaders and/or taxpayers to decide to move forward. Working with qualified professionals can help inform the public and politicians of the results of the study, what it means, and how to best move forward with its recommendations.

Who to contact?

The key to a comprehensive, informative study is starting with a qualified professional team. This team may consist of architects, engineers, estimators, or specialists, often regional, in a variety of services, including geographic information systems, geotechnical analysis, or surveys. The answers you are seeking will help determine who you need on the team. Look for expertise, relevant experience, and references when choosing a qualified professional or firm. While working with a local firm may seem convenient, it is equally important to ensure the team has demonstrated experience in this highly specialized facility typology, as public safety planning requires a depth of knowledge that extends beyond general building design.

Qualified professionals will also require your input to help program your needs. They will ask for your feedback and review during the scope of work, with your input acting as a critical step in the process. A meaningful study should not be prepared in a vacuum.

Feasibility studies cost time and money; however, these factors should not be the primary driver of who you hire to conduct the study. If you needed a heart doctor, you certainly wouldn’t select one based solely on price. You would want the most qualified doctor and team based on your specific needs. Have a plan in place to react to the recommendations and move your vision forward. 

Most studies will have some form of budget or cost recommendations, as well as a proposed timeline. Knowing that money and time will be required to implement the recommendations, it’s never too early to start planning your funding mechanism and timetable.

Conclusion

Working with a professional team to develop a feasibility study ensures that key decision-makers have the necessary insights to pursue potential facility projects, while also fostering community and municipal support. Choosing the right team to conduct your study and openly sharing results will position you with informed next steps.

Just remember feasibility studies often result in further work based on required information and study recommendations. They serve no purpose if the study is relegated to sitting on a shelf.