Fire station completion anticipated for early next year

The long-anticipated Bureau of Reclamation fire station is expected to be completed in 2021. 

Construction began on the fire station on SR-155 across from Pole Park back in April of 2017, with a $13.6 million contract originally awarded to Innovative Construction and Design in 2016.

The termination of that contract was confirmed by the bureau in March of 2019, and construction resumed in April of 2019 by Northcon Construction, which took over the contract.

The bureau would not comment on why they changed construction companies. 

“There are many factors that inform our decision to transition from one contracting vendor to another,” Erika A. Lopez, a Boise-based public affairs specialist for the bureau said in an email to The Star. “Due to federal regulation requirements, we are not in a position to discuss which factors led us to transition from one contractor to another.”

“Most of the site work is complete; this includes the main structure and plumbing,” Lopez said. “We do not have a firm completion date at this time; however, we estimate 6-8 months of additional work remains.”

“At this time, minimal onsite work is occurring,” the email continues. “Per contracting regulations, we cannot discuss the current delay at this time.”

Lopez was able to comment on a local rumor that concrete work already completed was being reexamined for possible problems.

“The building is being scanned because we discovered a possible structural issue that needs to be looked into,” she said. “As the scanning is ongoing, we cannot share any additional information.”