After years of waiting, the Miami Lakes West Fire Rescue Station #64 is one step closer to reality as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami-Dade County officials joined with members of the Miami Lake Town Council for a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, October 29.
The new station will be located just south of Miami Lakes Drive on N.W. 77 Court. Once completed, Station #64 will be a two-story 13,512-square-foot facility. The triple-bay station will accommodate up to 12 firefighters and will include a bunker gear room, storage space, a work area, offices, dining room, day room, study room, exercise room, telecommunications room, and an office for a Battalion Chief.
The state-of-the-art station is designed by the team of Alleguez Architecture, Inc. The principal architect on the project is Ana Alleguez and Orlando Milian will be the project manager. The team at GEC Associates, led by Luis Enrique, will oversee construction of the station. Harold Sanchez and Joe Gonzalez will be in charge of the daily operations for GEC Associates.
Station #64 will also be the second Miami-Dade Fire Rescue station to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification. In order to meet LEED certification, the station needed to meet the following credits:
• Sustainable sites – Minimize the impact on existing ecosystems and water resources.
• Water efficiency – Reduce potable water consumption inside the station and out by using water more smartly.
• Energy and Atmosphere – Use innovative strategies to reduce the energy performance in the facility. One example is using motion-censored lights that turn on when someone walks into a room.
• Materials and Resources – Use sustainable building materials and reduce waste.
• Indoor Environmental Quality – Promote better indoor air quality and access to daylight and views. The new station will help to increase service and improve response time and efficiency. This will allow Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to continue to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Miami Lakes residents and the surrounding communities.
For the past three years, Station #64 has been housed in temporary quarters at the intersection of N.W. 82 Avenue and Commerce Way in Miami Lakes Business Park West.
When Miami-Dade first sought land to build a permanent fire station to achieve a better response time for emergencies on the west side of Miami Lakes, the late former Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Roberto Alonso discovered some vacant land that belonged to the Florida Department of Transportation near Miami Lakes Drive and N.W. 77 Court.
In working with Miami Lakes and county officials, the state agency turned over the land to Miami-Dade with the stipulation that the county could only erect a fire station on the site.