A Philomont Fire Station: What’s too big, too costly or just right?

By Laura Longley

Last fall, two visions for a Philomont Fire Station came under the consideration of Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System and Chief Keith Johnson. At the same time, Philomont village community members as well as preservation and conservation organizations proposed an alternative. They envisioned a more modest looking station that centered on the renovation and facility upgrades of the existing station at the main village crossroads.

However, the County gave the go-ahead for a feasibility study to be conducted by LeMay Erickson Willcox (LEW), the firm that designed the award-winning expansion and renovation of the Middleburg Fire and Rescue station. 

LEW was provided with specifications by LC-CFRS. The Philomont group expected their lower cost renovation-expansion concept would be given equal consideration. The concept and costs shared by LC-CFRS with the Board of Supervisors had all of a sudden escalated beyond the costs for the new facility on the seven acres in a different location.

 How did that happen? they wondered. 

The consultants had incorporated additional time and cost to the Philomont proposal for construction of a temporary facility to handle operations of fire and emergency services during renovation and new construction. 

Adding a temporary facility to the Philomont plan increased the budget to $26.9 million; while tearing down and building a new station on the same spot would cost an estimated $27.8 million.

The supervisors gave LC-CFRS the go-ahead for the design phase of its all-new building on the old horse show grounds. The resulting LC-CFRS design is set for an unveiling and community comment at a gathering at Franklin Park in Purcellville on Dec 8, from 6-7 p.m.

But the Philomont residents have never given up on their vision—to keep the station in the heart of the village. 

They went back to the drawing board with the help of Bill Ridge, a resident of Philomont, who reviewed the LeMay Erickson Willcox feasibility study, and has determined that renovating the current firehouse would fulfill all of the requirements of Loudoun County Fire and Rescue while saving County taxpayers millions of dollars. 

Ridge has spent the last 30 years working as an architect and as Chief of the Architecture and Engineering Branch at EPA. During that time, he did the master planning for all of the renovations for the 12 EPA-owned laboratories, and then managed the design and construction projects for most of them. Since most of EPA’s labs were built in the 1960’s and 70’s, they required extensive overhauls to bring them up to modern scientific and environmental standards. 

Ridge has sent the revised Philomont Fire Station plans and budget to Chief Johnson. His new plan includes:

• A 12,000 sq. ft. new addition which can be built adjacent to the north side of the existing station while the existing building is in operation and will provide all of the space necessary to function while existing building is renovated.
• Dormitory, showers lockers – 4,000 sq. ft.
• Operations, support, command office – 5,000 sq. ft.
• 2 pull-through truck bays – 3,000 sq. ft.
• New entrance on Snickersville Turnpike
• New apparatus exit on Snickersville Turnpike
• Existing station can be renovated to provide office space, kitchen, day room, laundry, exercise room – 6,000 sq. ft.
• Existing 4 truck bays can be re-utilized for smaller vehicles – 3,000 sq. ft.
• Construction adjacent to the north side of the existing building minimizes the impact to the site and minimizes the cost of building on the steep slope to the north of the site.

He also managed many of the new office construction projects, and the construction through GSA of two new laboratories. As the EPA Branch Chief, he was also responsible for managing all of the design and construction budgets for the agency. Prior to EPA, he worked at several architectural firms designing schools, elderly housing, and houses. He received his Master’s degree in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The total cost of Ridge’s plan comes to $15,636,000. The cost of this plan is $10 million less than the original LC-CFRS LEW renovation and addition estimate. Plus, no temporary building is required. The savings amount to $11,264,000, with the equivalent square footage.

Ridge’s plans have the support of Philomont residents, the Loudoun Historic Villages Alliance, Snickersville Turnpike Association, Piedmont Environmental Council, and many more preservation and conservation groups.