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The Menlo Park Fire Protection District is advancing plans to turn its main fire station and training grounds into a $120 million campus slated to be the city’s largest public safety developments in decades.
The proposal calls for demolishing the aging Station 1 at 300 Middlefield Road in Menlo Park and building a new two-story firehouse, training tower and 14,700-square-foot administrative building designed to serve as the district’s headquarters and community meeting space. The fire district provides emergency services across 30 square miles in Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto and areas of unincorporated San Mateo County.
The fire district presented mock-ups of the designs to interested community members on Nov. 10 and will hold a study session with the Menlo Park Planning Commission on Nov. 17.
The new fire station would be two stories and include 14 dorm rooms, a kitchen, a common area for firefighters, offices and four apparatus bays. It will also have workout rooms, showers and locker rooms for firefighters. While the new station replaces the current 11,000-square-foot fire station, the district does not anticipate changing staffing levels. It is currently staffed by five people per rotation. The new station will be able to accommodate up to 13 firefighters and one battalion chief.
The district says the original 11,000-square-foot station, which was built in 1955 and seismically retrofitted in the 1990s, is deteriorating and requires replacement to bring it up to code and prepare for potential future demand.
“The biggest benefit is we will have a modern fire station that can actually house more people should we have growth. We know with the USGS and SRI projects, there’s potential for a growing population here, so that helps us deal with it,” Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said.
The new campus will also have an administration building to replace two office buildings the district owns a few blocks away. The new building will have more space for community events and a multipurpose room which could be used as a command center, for training and for district board meetings.
The new campus will also include underground parking that can be used by visitors during community events. The fire district routinely hosts classes and training for community members.
“I think the other kind of ancillary benefit is we’ll have a really beautiful fire station that represents the Menlo Park Fire District and the communities. It will be beautiful. It’ll be bigger,” Lorenzen said. “The pancake breakfast that we hosted just two weekends ago can be even bigger. It’ll be a community firehouse and something that the whole community can be proud of.”
The fire station may have a “mini-museum” with memorabilia and an antique fire truck visible from the street.
In addition to the new administration building and fire station, the training tower will also be replaced. The tower will be designed to provide high-rise training, elevator rescue, high-angle rope, center hallway construction, confined space, firefighter survival and rapid intervention crew training, as well as propane fire training.
The district will have new training items including propane-fueled props. The district says the propane props will not be visible from the outside and no visible smoke will be generated. Theatrical smoke will continue to be used but should not be visible to people outside the facility.
The exterior of the building will be made of fiber cement panels designed to look like wood, along with metal panels with a matte finish.
Architects from the firm PBK told residents about other features the district is hoping to add to assist the community. The firm hopes that a large number “1” on the station, representing it as Station 1, will be able to change colors to indicate emergencies or celebrations, such as local sports teams winning events. The firm also hopes that native trees and plants will help minimize the impact to neighbors.
However, some residents are not convinced.
Several residents expressed concern that the metal siding would reflect during bright days and shine into neighbors’ and drivers’ eyes. The PBK architects told residents that the metal would have a coating and there would be trees to help limit any impact. The architects said they would look into how the material reflects and consider alternatives.
Another major concern for local resident Sheri Oscarson is that several heritage trees would be removed, including a magnolia tree that she estimates is more than 50 years old.
“It’s a beautiful, beautiful tree. When it blooms in the spring, they take pictures. I mean people are taking pictures all the time. I was surprised that the city even OK-ed the thought,” Oscarson said.
The fire district said the tree needed to be removed because required setbacks would have pushed the building 20 feet and would require removing a new driveway the district plans to add to reduce traffic on neighboring Santa Monica Avenue. Every existing tree would be removed under the current plan, and the district would replace them with 41 new trees, 18 of which would be planted off-site.
While the initial design documents will go before the Planning Commission in a study session later this month, it will be a while before the district breaks ground on the project.
Before any demolition can take place, the district will build a temporary fire station at one of its current office buildings on Santa Margarita Avenue.
Additionally, the current station lot is zoned as residential despite being used as a fire station. The district has requested that the city change the zoning to a public facility.
The city is also selecting a contractor to create an environmental impact report under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The district estimates construction will start in July 2026 and conclude in December 2030. The fire protection district has already set aside all the funds it expects to need for the project in a capital improvement fund.
I support our fire fighters but $120M!!?
This is a massive waste of tax payer dollars and emblematic of the problem with specialized districts. Our other two new firehouses cost a total of ~$22M. How did a $120M station get approved?
It’s ironic that this waste comes at the same time that our City Council is attempting to strip the downtown of its parking lots and shutter our downtown businesses, stating that we cannot afford a parking garage.
Has anyone considered that the funds instead be used to build a more modest station so that a portion of the property can be gifted to Menlo Park for low-income housing?
Clearly, the Fire District is over funded and its tax rate needs to be reduced.