Council accepts fire station land donation

Lorain moved a step closer to getting a new westside fire station, although it does not yet appear to be a shovel-ready project.

On Aug. 21, Lorain City Council voted 9-0 to accept a donation of land from Mercy Health - Lorain.

The land, three contiguous parcels making up 2.17 acres at the corner of Kolbe Road and West Erie Avenue, will become the site of the new Fire Station No. 7 next year.

Mercy Heatlh - Lorain announced the donation Aug. 9.

In the Aug. 21 meeting, Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis asked whether Council might get more information about the project.

Council received a Lorain County Auditor’s map showing the location of the land.

But there were no diagrams or blueprints to show the size of the building, how it would sit on the parcels and where its driveways would be.

Fallis said he did not feel comfortable voting on the donation without more details.

Safety-Service Director Dan Given said he, mayor’s Chief of Staff Phil Dore, fire Chief Christopher Radman and consultants Clark & Post Architects have been drawing up plans.

Council will see more legislation as early as September to begin building the new station.

Councilman Greg Argenti noted the donation legislation had ambiguous language about the use of the land.

But even if the fire station project fell through, Given and Council woman-at-Large Mary Springowski noted the city would receive a prime corner of real estate to develop.

Councilman-at-Large Tony Dimacchia said Mercy Health - Lorain’s gift was generous, but should not be complicated.

Councilwoman Beth Henley said it is standard operating procedure to know what land to work with to create a new building plan.

After the meeting, Fallis said he did not want to delay the fire station construction, but did want essential information for the decision.

Other than the auditor’s map, Fallis said, so far, he said he received no details about the fire station on a busy intersection with a traffic light and other businesses across the street.

“I wanted to do my homework because I didn’t have the information at all,” he said.

LORAIN CITY COUNCIL This map with the parcels outlined in orange shows where Lorain’s new west side Fire Station No. 7 will be located. Lorain City Council held a special call Aug. 21, and voted to accept the donation of land from Mercy Health - Lorain.