Fairfax County is set to hire an architect to design a long-awaited replacement of the Great Falls Fire and Rescue station, one of the first major projects funded by November’s bond referendum to move forward.
The up-to-18,700-square-foot, $12-million-plus station will replace the oldest emergency facility in the county, which opened in 1960. Great Falls, a wealthy eastern Fairfax County suburb, has since outgrown the building. Officials cite the need for additional space for both equipment and firefighters.
“It’s badlyneeded,” Dranesville District Supervisor Joan Dubois said. She also said the project has been in the works for a decade, and her predecessor, Stuart Mendelson, first put forth the request for the new station.
By a wide margin, Fairfax County voters approved funds for the project in a $125 million public safety bond referendum. Under the agreement, the county will fund the construction up to 15,500 square feet, and the volunteer department will use its own money to build beyond that. The new facility will be built on the site of the existing station on Georgetown Pike.
The Board of Supervisors will likely approve a nearly $1 million contract with Fairfax-based Samaha Associates, P.C., which has already conducted a feasibility study for the county.
The volunteer station’s chief could not be reached Thursday.
