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CARLSBAD: Commission grants permits to training center project
By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | ∞
CARLSBAD ---- Consultants can now start putting together the final plans for a long-proposed firefighter and police officer training center.
Carlsbad's Planning Commission unanimously agreed earlier this week to give the $24.5 million project the conditional use permit it needs to proceed. Now it's time to nail down the design details.
"We all felt that it was something the city has needed for a long, long time," Commission Chairman Frank Whitton said Thursday as he discussed the commission's Wednesday night decision. "We supported it 100 percent."
The next step will be six to eight months of architectural work, then the City Council will be asked to seek bids for the construction work, city special projects director Skip Hammann said Thursday.
The training complex is proposed to go on a 4-acre ball field area within the city's Safety Center site on Orion Way.
Plans call for a two-story, 33,183-square-foot police shooting range, which will replace an old outdoor range that closed several years ago. The firefighters will gain several mock buildings, including a four-story "office building," that can be burned during training exercises.
Underground containment basins will collect water used during the firefighting drills and that water can later be used to irrigate the landscaping, Hammann said.
One underground collection basin also may be used occasionally for confined space training, he said.
Classroom space and an outdoor training area for automobile extrication exercises also are planned, but an administrative office building has been eliminated from the first construction phase as a cost-saving measure, Hammann said
However, he added, there are no plans now to delay the entire $24.5 million project despite the grim national economic news. The council already has set aside money for the construction work, he said.
Council members indicated at their monthly workshop session that they will postpone several other big-ticket construction projects, including the Alga Norte swim complex and a public works training center.
"This project wasn't included in that list ... (and) we'll continue to move forward until we're told not to," Hammann said.
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Huh wrote on Nov 21, 2008 8:04 AM:Why are the taxpayers of Carlsbad being asked to fund a $24.5 project (expect this figure to go up significantly by the time this project is complete!) when the city has no FOUR STORY OFFICE BUILDINGS in town and the crime rate in Carlsbad is one of the lowest in the county?
answer wrote on Nov 21, 2008 9:13 AM:to Huh! In 2002 the citizens voted and approved spending money to fund a police/fire training center. They voted for it because public safety has no where to train. They voted for it because they want qualified firefighters and police officers to protect them, their businesses, and their families.There is a four story building here in Carlsbad and besides our firefighters go to neighboring towns all the time with high-rises. Our crime rate is still not the best.Isn't that what we want? Now is a good time to build with construction companies wanting jobs, chances are the bids will come in cheaper like it did with the city water park. The money is there and approved. This will help keep jobs and work here in Carlsbad during these tough times. Good job City Council.
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