By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
There's a new fire station in northwest Hays, but you may not notice it.
And that's just fine with Fire Chief Ryan Hagans.
The exterior of the single-story building located at 1732 W. 41st St. was intentionally designed to blend in with the new houses in the nearby neighborhood.
"Great work by PWC, our general contractor, and all the local vendors. Those guys just did an outstanding job of putting this place together," Hagans said Monday afternoon following a 'hose uncoupling' ceremony hosted by The Chamber in Hays.
Instead of a ribbon cutting, Hagans and Mayor Shaun Musil jointly uncoupled a bright red fire hose to signal the official opening of the new fire station.
"You guys deserve this. Our community deserves this," said Musil.
The project cost was slightly less than $6 million.
"This wouldn't have been possible for us without the Ellis County Commission when the sales tax passed for the emergency management center," he said.
"The city was able to use its share of that money to build this."
Also joining the ceremony were Vice-Mayor Sandy Jacobs and Commissioner Mason Ruder, City Manager Toby Dougherty and Deputy City Manager Collin Bielser.
"Our architect HFG out of Wichita designed a fabulous building," Hagans said. "They listened to us rather well on what we wanted, took our input and mixed their expertise, and created this lovely facility."
Tours were offered by Hagans and other firefighters.
Living quarters for the three on-duty firefighters are home-like. They'll spend a lot of time in the 12,000 sq. ft. facility during their shifts which are 24 hours on, 48 hours off.
There's a large well-equipped kitchen, workout room, administrative staff offices, and even an outdoor patio.
Sleeping quarters and shower/restroom facilities are more private, and there are lots of windows.
The third fire station was established to ensure short response times to emergencies as the city continues to develop to the northwest.
"For the last 20 years, the city has grown north and northwest. ... Look at the number of houses just across 41st Street that have been developed in the last 20 years," Hagans said.
"This gives us access to north of I-70 quicker. We've got the bypass to get on. We can actually get to the airport quicker from here than downtown. We can get to Hays High and the hospital in about the same time.
"We can take arterial streets instead of neighborhood streets from here to get to where we need to go."
Fire department staff will be split between the new location and the downtown fire station at 1507 Main.
Renovations and updates at station number one are underway, including accommodations for female personnel.
The new station is now headquarters for the fire department and also houses the city's IT servers.
Fire station No. 2 is located at the Hays Regional Airport and is staffed according to the commercial flight schedule.
Tours of the new fire station will be offered throughout the spring.
For information, call the Hays Fire Department at 785-628-7330.