As another step toward planning for the Bedford Commons development, the City of Bedford has selected a tentative location for a new Central Fire Station.  City Council on Tuesday night appeared to have settled on a location in the front yard of the Law Enforcement Center for the station on L. Don Dodson Drive.

According to a press statement from the City, a new central fire facility is needed “for improved functionality” and to comply with “modern fire station standards.”  This is a “unique opportunity,” the statement said, “to relocate the station and allow the current building and property [it sits on] to be repurposed to help maximize the future potential of the Bedford Commons development.“

City Council and other city leaders are awaiting to hear the conclusions of a Bedford Commons market study from Midway Development, which is expected to be presented to the City in early 2025.  The City and Midway entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement this past April to research possible concepts and types of businesses that would align with the project.  According to the City’s website, Midway’s research “will determine the most sustainable type of businesses for the property and other features, such as a farmer’s market, housing, open spaces and gathering areas (common spaces).”

As presented to the Council by Jim Tharp, of Oxley Williams Tharp Architects, the detention area of the Law Enforcement Center, which is no longer used, would be demolished and a cluster of trees would be cleared to create space for the new Central Fire Station.  Both departments, the police and fire, he said, would share the parking area along with a new 1,000-square-foot fitness building.

The station, Tharp said as he addressed Council, would be about 25,000 square feet versus the current station, which is approximately 14,200 square feet, and would take about eight to nine months to plan before breaking ground.  The new facility, he detailed, would include two levels of living accommodations for male and female firefighters, a kitchen, dining area, offices, meeting rooms and four drive-through bays for fire engines, medic units and the battalion chief’s vehicle.  Tharp added that there would also be an effort to increase storage space.

“I think it’s a smart location,” commented Bedford Fire Chief Bill Walker as part of the presentation.  He said, “We just have to really be creative and thoughtful and talk to the police officers and fire fighters [to] get their input.”  He further said he wants to “make sure that in the end, the space works for everybody” and that “there would be enough space for the fire trucks to turn and “pull all the way through” the bays.

“It’s an exciting time in Bedford to be able to take care of a lot of these infrastructure needs,” said Mayor Dan Cogan, “and having a brand new fire station is going to be phenomenal!”  He added that he likes the idea of the police and fire departments being located together and that they probably should have been “in the first place.”