Clintonville to consider review of fire station, Armory
By Bert Lehman
The Clintonville Facilities Committee recommended that the city pay up to $3,000 for studies on the Armory and the building that houses Clintonville City Hall and the Clintonville Fire Department.
The Facilities Committee approved that recommendation at its April 27 meeting. The building studies will need final approval by the Clintonville City Council.
At the meeting, Clintonville Fire Chief Shane Krueger said he spoke with a co-owner of Keller Structures who said the company would be willing to provide the city with a building study for an amount far less than it normally charges
“They understand the needs of doing studies and the willingness to put that out there, and to come out and do a type of phase one study at a cost of $1,500 for a building project,” Krueger said.
Krueger said based on his past experience, he was once involved in a building project that included a building study at a cost of $25,000.
Following the initial conversation, Keller’s co-owner came to Clintonville April 27 to tour City Hall and the Fire department building, as well as the Armory.
The Armory is currently being used only for storage because the building has structural issues.
Krueger said the city needs to know if something can be done with both buildings, and if it is worth investing money in the Armory instead of tearing it down.
“We kind of have some rough estimates on what it is going to cost to tear a building down with our project here on Main Street,” Krueger said. “So, do you put that money into the building, or is it just an unfortunate expense that the city might have if they were to do something with that facility sitting there in kind of an idle state.”
Krueger said currently the building that houses the Clintonville Fire Department is “challenging” because of limited space.
“I encourage anybody to come through and take a tour,” Krueger said. “It’s tight. It brings challenges for the responders. We have our gear stored right in with the apparatus. There are challenges there, and certainly just office space has always been at a premium.”
Realistic options
During discussions with Clintonville City Administrator Caz Muske, Krueger said Muske asked him if the fire department were to occupy the space currently occupied by city hall, if that would be enough space for the department.
“Of course, we’d love to have a brand-new facility for the fire department, but could we make this work with some corrections and amendments to the building? I think the answer is yes,” Krueger said.
He added that he thinks the fire department portion of the building was added on in the 1970s, so it’s already provided 50 years of use.
He said it would be realistic to think the department could get another 25 years of use out of it.
Muske added that if the Armory is salvageable, that it might be possible to move city hall to the Armory building and some of the recreational space at that building could be used again.
“Park and Recreation is going to need a gym at some point when Longfellow (Elementary School) is no longer,” Muske said. “And the historian in me wants to save the beautiful building that’s been very monumental in our community. So, that’s kind of the thought process of trying to check a few things off the list. Giving the fire department a more adequate space and saving the Armory. Especially if we’re going to put in at least a quarter of a million dollars (to demolish the Armory), if the Merc is over half a million dollars (to demolish).”
Since the study would include two buildings, Krueger and Muske think it will cost $1,500 per building for a building study, for a total of $3,000.
Muske said the city has that amount in the contingency fund to cover the cost, and that could be done this year.