LEWISTON, Minn. — The Lewiston City Council award a $3.4 million contract to construct a new emergency services building to house the fire, ambulance and police departments. The contract went to Olympics Builders of Holmen, Wisconsin, the lowest of eight bidders. The new 12,200-squaure foot building will replace the 60-year-old structure that now houses the fire and ambulance services on North Fremont Street across from the state forestry garage. The police office, now at City Hall a block off Main Street downtown, will be relocated to the new building. The new building will be no Taj Mahal. The plan is for an engineered steel structure mounted atop a slab. “Not fancy at all,” said ambulance chief Matt Essig. The current building will be razed. The project’s completion target: Next September. The design, by CRW Architecture of Rochester, calls for:
> Garaging for emergency vehicles.
> Parking for emergency volunteers.
> Showers and decontamination areas to keep out carcinogenic soot from fires.
> Living quarters for out-of-town ambulance crews that comprise a third of the ambulance volunteers.
> Space for fire department turnout gear to lower cancer risks.
> A shared training room.
How tight too tight?
The current building is so cramped that emergency response times are slowed.
> Ambulances are parked shoulder-width apart.
> Fire engines need to be backed within inches of walls, impeding crews called to fires.
> New fire engines need to be custom ordered to fit under low garage doors.