At the August 13 meeting of the Peninsula Township Board, Fire Chief Fred Gilstorff presented a plan to replace the 78-year-old Fire Station 1. The new station would be located just north of the Peninsula Township offices on property owned by the Township.
Gilstorff noted that the current station in Mapleton — which was built in 1946 and added onto in 1981 — is deteriorating and does not support housing the staff and equipment safely, nor does it provide space for staff to interact with Old Mission Peninsula residents.
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“The concept of the new Fire Station 1 is to have a station that the community and its firefighters can be proud of,” said Gilstorff, adding that a new station will meet the needs of the growing fire department and provide better services to the community for decades to come.
Gilstorff also noted that the fire department operates much differently than it did even ten years ago. “We’ve changed and now have staff in each of our stations around the clock 365 days a year. We don’t rely on firefighters responding from home to our station like they did a few years ago.”
Additional reasons for the replacement include the fact that the current Station 1 is non-ADA compliant and it’s showing signs of deterioration such as cracks in walls and flooring, and issues with water pipes and heating systems. It also doesn’t have adequate space to train firefighters and EMS workers, nor does it provide a safe working area when it comes to carcinogens and bloodborne pathogens protection.
The new building will provide for all of that and more, as well as a large space to house residents during emergency events such as weather-related emergencies.
As Township Trustee Dave Sanger noted, Peninsula Township is not the typical township layout. Rather than being geographically square, it’s a long stretch of land spread out over 18 miles. Essentially, it’s more like three separate townships, necessitating three separate fire stations to ensure quick response times, from the north end, where Fire Station 3 is located, to the base near Traverse City, where Fire Station 2 is located.
The Township Board approved Gilstorff’s request to move forward with the project by securing Environment Architects as architect and project manager, and Gourdie-Fraser for the site work review needed for Planning Commission approval.
Once the project moves through the Planning Commission, it will go out for the construction bidding process. When bids are received and reviewed, the Township Board will need to approve the bids, and construction can begin.
When Gilstorff was hired as the new fire chief in 2017, he noted, “I’m very much a go getter. I’m a hard worker. I like to get my hands dirty. I may be the one responsible for making the decisions, but I’m still a firefighter.”
During the seven years since he was hired, he has shepherded the fire department through many changes, including construction of a new Fire Station 3 on the north end, hiring additional staff and staffing the stations 24/7, purchasing new fire trucks, hosting many open houses for OMP residents, recognizing staff with department awards each year, upgrading to advanced life support equipment, ensuring that former fire chief Rich VanderMey had a fireman’s memorial service, installing AED defibrillators in public buildings, participating in the annual “Patriotic Walk Around the Block” in Old Mission, leading parades of cars for birthdays during the pandemic and more.
Estimated cost of the project is about $8 million. Gilstorff is exploring multiple financing options and looking to finance the station over a minimum of 20 to 25 years. If all goes well, construction may begin in mid-2025.
View the full proposal in the meeting packet here.
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