County Breaks Ground on New $8 Million Fire Station
The new station, as envisioned in this rendering, is funded in part by Measure A, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in November 2012.
New station with improved access will replace a cabin-style barracks more than a half-century old.
Posted on June 14, 2016:
San Mateo County officials on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, broke ground on a new $8 million fire station in Skylonda that will give firefighters modernized quarters and speed up public safety response to the remote surrounding community.
Donning hard hats and painted gold shovels on the existing Skyline Boulevard site, District Three County Supervisor Don Horsley, County Manager John Maltbie, Public Works Director Jim Porter and others key to the project kicked off the first steps toward constructing a two-story, 12,037-square-foot main building and a 1,638-square-foot vehicle building. At arm’s length from where the modern, consolidated facility will open next summer sits the existing Fire Station No. 58 — a greatly deteriorated office and cabin-style barracks building constructed in 1939 and a pre-fabricated steel-frame structure dating from approximately 1950.
“We got a lot of life out of them. It was a good facility but it is time to upgrade,” Porter said.
That upgrade comes thanks to the Board of Supervisors which last year allocated $4.074 million in funding from Measure A, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in November 2012. The remaining funds are from construction bonds.
Measure A was passed to support essential County services like public safety and to maintain or replace critical facilities.
The new fire station, Maltbie said, “really is the fulfillment of this promise.”
County officials dig into the earth at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new station.
The new fire station’s highlights include:
- A drive-through apparatus building and back-in vehicle storage building
- Improved living quarters
- A combined 628-square-foot conference and training room that can be used as County community meeting space
- Site improvements, including remediation of the sewage disposal system
- A new driveway to Skyline Boulevard for improved access
The expanded access to the fire station and its reorientation on the three-acre site will help first responders reach their vehicles and move the equipment quicker when called, Horsley said.
“Public safety is one of the most important things government can do, especially in an area like this that is pretty remote,” Horsley said. “Saving one minute or two minutes can save somebody’s life.”
Through a contract with the County, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) provides service through Skylonda Fire Station No. 58 for Kings Mountain, La Honda, Upper Woodside and Skyline Boulevard.
The project architect is Jeff Katz Architecture (JKA) and construction is by T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc. The current station will remain operational 24/7 during construction and will be demolished once the new facility is complete.