Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve an agreement for $951,502 for the design of Fire Station 6, coming to northwest Lawrence.
Fire Station 6 will be built at 555 Stoneridge Drive — next to the water tower at Sixth Street and Stoneridge — after getting approval from the Lawrence city and Douglas County commissions in September.
The location will help Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical reduce response times to some of the areas on the edge of the city and into the county that currently take LDCFM six minutes or more to reach, which is two minutes longer than the industry standard, according to information previously provided to the commission.
The new station will also add another ambulance, McKenzi Ezell, chief of staff for LDCFM, told commissioners. Engine 5, which is currently not in use at Station 5, will be renamed Engine 6 and moved to the new station.
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The $951,502 design contract is with SFS Architecture Inc. The station is estimated to cost $11.12 million to construct, according to the information in Tuesday’s agenda.
Steven Hallstrom, project manager, said the Kansas City, Missouri-based architecture firm was selected through a competitive process involving scoring and interviews.
Assistant City Manager Casey Toomay said the project will use the construction manager at risk delivery.
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“Specifically, it’s great when we need flexibility to engage with neighbors on the design, so that we can make sure to help alleviate any concerns that they may have, and it helps us lower costs by placing some of that burden on the construction manager rather than on us,” Toomay told commissioners.
During public comment, some neighbors voiced concerns about drainage around the project.
Commissioner Mike Dever said he understood the concerns, but he’s observed the area. He said he thought there was more runoff coming from the nearby church and parking lot than there would be from this station and suggested possibly looking at a detention basin to retain stormwater.
City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry — in attendance for his first city commission meeting in his new role — said there should be a hydrology and hydraulics study first to look at the whole watershed area, and the project should be designed with recommendations from the study.
Debbie Filkins, a neighbor who has previously shared concerns about the project and location, asked the commission to consider that there likely won’t be room for any sort of landscape buffer between the station and the nearby neighborhood. She also encouraged them to consider a site west of Interstate 70 and Highway 40, because the Costco that will open nearby this fall will increase traffic in the area.
Vice Mayor Mike Courtney and Commissioners Dever, Kristine Polian and Amber Sellers voted unanimously to approve the contract. Mayor Brad Finkeldei was not present for the meeting.
Al-Ghafry said it is his commitment to provide regular updates to the commission on this project and other capital improvement projects.
Construction is expected to begin in summer of 2027. Read more about the fire station plans in the articles at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
