City of Lawrence staff members will ask city commissioners Tuesday to sign off on 555 Stoneridge Drive as the site of the next fire station.
The northwestern Lawrence location would 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.
The estimated cost for the station is about $13 million ($12.96 million) that was included in the city’s 2025-2029 capital improvement plan. The city has not yet identified how to pay for annual operating costs.
The proposed station would be almost 13,000 square feet and have space for 10 private bunks, four gender-neutral restrooms with showers, a training room, kitchen and dining room and more. It would sit just north of Sixth Street next to the water tower.
“City staff intends to execute an agreement for additional design services in late 2025, complete design in 2026, and begin construction in 2027,” according to the agenda. “Construction would be complete and the station operationally ready for service in 2028.”
Here’s a close-up view of the plan from the agenda materials:
Lawrence Professional Firefighters of IAFF Local 1596 have been working to raise awareness of the proposed LDCFM budget cut city commissioners are also considering on Tuesday.
As part of their approval of the city’s 2026 budget, commissioners will also vote on how much property taxes will increase and how much to charge residents to use rec centers. (Read more at this link.)
The proposed budget would also take Fire Engine 5, stationed at 19th and Iowa streets, offline.
LDCFM staff members successfully pushed during last year’s budget process to maintain staffing of four firefighters on each truck, and that staffing level would continue under the proposed 2026 budget; however, Engine 5 would be taken out of service “despite volumes of studies and data that indicate more fire trucks and ambulances are desperately needed,” according to the union.
“In the same meeting, during a separate agenda item, they’ll hear a presentation packed with data showing the need for more fire trucks in Lawrence,” the union wrote in a Facebook post. “Your Lawrence firefighters will be there to call out the competing values on display — and the clear disregard for both the data and expert recommendations.”
City staff members are asking the commission on Tuesday to approve 555 Stoneridge Drive as the new station location, and to “Direct the City Manager to develop a future budget proposal that includes property tax increases to support staffing for Station 6 followed by construction of a redeveloped Station 3,” which is the station near Sixth Street and Kasold Drive.
As part of their consent agenda — a list of items that are generally considered routine and approved with one motion unless a commissioner asks to discuss a particular item — commissioners will consider setting a public hearing for their Tuesday, Oct. 21 meeting to hear issues at impasse between the city and the union.
Meeting info
Commissioners will also vote on water and wastewater rate increases for the next three years. (Read more about that at this link.)
The Lawrence City Commission will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually.
Attendees can join the meeting virtually via Zoom, which also allows participants to provide public comment, at this link. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.
See the fire station agenda item at this link. See the commission’s complete meeting agenda at this link.
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Updates:
• Lawrence City Commission approves budget with fees to use rec centers, property tax rate increase, Sept. 16, 2025
• Lawrence City Commission approves water, wastewater rate increases for the next 3 years, Sept. 16, 2025
• City Commission approves 6th and Stoneridge as site for new Lawrence fire station; county to consider next, Sept. 16, 2025
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Lawrence city budget coverage
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August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
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