Photo by Sally Y. Hart

With a recommendation from committee, the Washington City Council has selected an architectural firm for the new fire station project.

At Wednesday’s council meeting councilman Jaron Rosien, who served on the building committee, said there were seven firms and four interviews, and it was a difficult decision, “They really value customers. They seem to have the experience about the longevity of the project, not just this one, but the city [hall] and the fire and wanting to put the whole picture together. They put the most effort into costing accurately and giving us good information on the dollars and cents.” Councilman Brandon DeLong was also on the committee and said Design Alliance used third party estimates for the project bid. The council formally approved the contract with Design Alliance.

Kristofer Orth with the firm was in attendance at the meeting and said, “On behalf of Design Alliance, I just want to thank you very much for the opportunity and we would love to work with the City of Washington on this exciting project.” Design Alliance has completed projects for other fire departments in Iowa including Waukee, West Des Moines, Bondurant, and Story City. The contract is for $161,000 and includes conceptual design, schematic design, construction documents, and construction administration.