Another fire station might be coming to Willow Glen. SJFD Fire Station #37 — proposed to replace the parking lot along Lincoln Avenue next to the Willows Senior Center — will be the topic of a preliminary community meeting on Thursday, March 27.

The City of San Jose invites you to a Community Meeting regarding new Fire Station #37

Please join the City of San Jose Fire Department for an overview and community discussion regarding a new Fire Station proposed to be located adjacent to the Willows Senior Center.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 @ 6:30 p.m.
Willows Senior Center

But it’s only in the site selection stage, so don’t go counting your emergency response times just yet … although a closer fire station would have been helpful last summer. And the new fire hydrants along Curtner are just a coincidence of course.

At this community meeting, City and SJFD staff will present their plans for existing City lands. The proposed site fronts Lincoln and is a portion of the Willow’s Senior Center site currently used for parking. The Senior Center and adjoining park will remain intact. Staff will present a diagram of the proposed land use and describe the general project scope, timeline and operational benefits on Thursday.

But according to Pierluigi Oliverio’s office, the new station would occupy a portion of the Willows parking lot (facing Lincoln to the left), and would require voter approval since it would replace set-aside park land. The new station would augment or replace existing Station #6, and add an additional fire fighter (from 5 to 6) to the neighborhood service.

While any talk of a “capital project” is at least two-year’s premature, the City does list Station #37 on its Capital Project Management System.

There will undoubtedly be lots of questions:

Aside from the cost of the property, why wouldn’t the City consider acquiring the parcel on the corner of Curtner & Lincoln, and put the new fire station there? That corner has hosted a school, a grocery store, and most recently a gas station. Anything would be an improvement over the vacant lot and chain link fence.

Where will SJPD set-up their Senior Center speed trap, if the fire station occupies the parking lot?

So, we’ll wait for the meeting. … and then the political process?

You’d have to go all the way back to 2005 — the early days of WGx — to find the most recent WG fire station news, and that was a debate over the famous Station 6 Hose Wagon, which was saved by then-councilmember Ken Yeager:

As you may know, I had requested continued funding for the hose wagon at Fire Station No. 6. In his June Budget Message, the Mayor has recommended cutting the hose wagon. I still believe very strongly that the hose wagon fills a vital public safety need in the Willow Glen neighborhood.

Do we get to keep the Hose Wagon if we build Station 37? ;-)

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