Marshfield police, fire one step closer to new facilities

MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Police and Fire departments are both one step closer to getting approvals for major projects.

The police department is asking the city to OK renovations to the Wildwood Plaza building for the department’s future location, while the fire department is looking to construct a training center.

Police Chief Jody Geurink presented the $459,145 proposal from BKV Group to the Board of Public Works on May 5, which would cover the architectural design of the building. The overall project budget is $10 million, according to city documents, with the design portion budgeted at $800,000.

Meanwhile, the cost of the fire department’s master plan for its proposed training center comes in at just under $27,000, with Short Elliott Hendrickson chosen as the consultant.

Fire Chief Everett Mueller said the training center would help the community in multiple ways, including keeping first responders close to the community, even during training.

“The closest training facility for us is about 45 miles away,” he said. “As a department, it’s really hard to divide our resources. That means we would have to send (firefighters) 45 miles away. That becomes a real problem for us and our surrounding partners as well.”

He said there’s potential for mutual-aid partners to also use the training facility, which could help offset any costs. Mid-State Technical College also would be splitting those costs with the city, which Mueller said opens the department up for potential federal grants.

The projects next go before the full City Council for final approval at its next meeting.