Vista firm to build new Oceanside fire station
Cox Construction Co. of Vista has been awarded a $13.5 million contract to build the replacement for Oceanside’s downtown Fire Station No. 1, which was built in 1929 and opened in 1930.
The Oceanside City Council awarded the contract last week and authorized additional funding of up to 10 percent, or $1.35 million, for contingency costs and $1.6 million for permits, fees, furniture and equipment, bringing the total expected cost to $16.5 million.
Construction is expected to begin in August. Cox will build the new fire station on a Civic Center Drive property the city bought for $1.6 million in 2004 a little over one block away from the old station.
The old firehouse on Pier View Way will become part of its next-door neighbor, the Oceanside Museum of Art, which occupies the original Oceanside City Hall. Both buildings were designed by noted architect Irving Gill.
Cox submitted the lowest of five bids for the construction project. The other bids were $13.9 million from PCN3 Inc. of Los Alamitos, $14.6 million from Edwards Construction Group of Nipomo, $15.6 million from Woodcliff Corp. of Los Angeles, and $16.2 million from Macro-Z Technology of Santa Ana.
Money for the project comes from Measure X, a halfcent, seven-year sales tax Oceanside voters approved in 2018 to help pay for public safety, infrastructure projects, road repairs and programs to help homeless people. The station also qualified for a $3.5 million grant from the federal Defense Community Infrastructure Program because of its location near Camp Pendleton.
The council rejected an initial round of bids on April 6 because some of them included clerical errors, and new submissions were requested April 18. Oceanside has eight fire stations.
City officials say the old station No. 1 is ill-equipped for blazes in the six- and seven-story buildings that have popped up downtown. The city’s nearest ladder truck is miles away at Station No. 7 in the San Luis Rey Valley, which can add minutes to downtown response times.