Fire station renovation to be delayed

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.

One of Las Vegas' oldest fire stations will have to wait a year to get a renovation.

Fire Station No. 8, at Mojave and Bonanza roads, is scheduled to be rebuilt at a nearby location, but uncertainty about just where the new station should be built and lack of funding mean the old station will be around a little longer.

Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said Fire Station No. 8 was not part of the 2000 Fire Safety Initiative approved by voters, which helps pay for four new stations in the northwest. Improvements to Fire Station No. 8 were to come from the city's Capital Improvement Fund, which may not be able to budget the $3.5 million that would be needed to build the new station.

A proposed location for the new station would be about a block north of the existing fire station on Mojave Road and Harris Avenue. The location is still in question because of its proximity to Freedom Park, which could slow a fire truck's response time if there is heavy traffic. The new station, when built, will be one of the department's new single-story prototype fire stations.

Station No. 8 was designed to be temporary. Szymanski said the current station is inadequate because of the city's population growth.