Construction crews are hard at work on the first major renovation to La Jolla’s Fire Station 16 on Mount Soledad since it opened in 1982. And as long as the current schedule holds, it’ll be complete in roughly two months.
Last year, the city of San Diego approved the first phase of a renovation plan shepherded by the La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club to replace walls and doors in the sleeping areas of the fire station, located at at 2110 Via Casa Alta, along with other improvements.
Prior to the renovation project, the sleeping quarters had corrugated plastic sheets as partial doors that covered from the ground to a height of about eight feet. These quarters are also controlled by one light switch, as well as one heating and cooling system, presenting chances for firefighters’ sleep to be disrupted.
Thus, the new walls and doors will enable firefighters to get better sleep, and improve privacy and living standards, project organizers say.
Work began in late May. Since then, San Diego Fire-Rescue Foundation Executive Director Wendy Moore shared in an email that construction is “moving along beautifully.”
Current work underway, Moore said, includes mudding — applying mud to seams, corners and screw holes of drywall — and painting the rooms. Workers were also able to paint the outside of the station, giving it a refreshed look. In the coming weeks, crews will install new flooring and soon after, cabinets and furnishing. Phase one construction is expected to last until roughly September.
“Projects like this are about much more than renovating a building,” Moore wrote. “By creating comfortable, functional living spaces, we’re supporting the health, wellness and readiness of the firefighters who spend long hours, and often days at a time, serving our community. When our firefighters have the space they need to rest, recover and recharge between calls, they’re better prepared to respond when our community needs them most.”
Fire Station 16’s renovations first stemmed from La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club and expanded to include the San Diego Fire-Rescue Foundation and Rotary Club of La Jolla.
The city agreed to provide the labor if the Rotarians came up with the money and materials, according to Sunrise Rotarian Parker Davenport. To account for the cost of temporary housing for firefighters, plus rising prices for materials, organizers increased their fundraising goal from $120,000 to $175,000.
Cindy Goodman, a fundraising organizer and member of the Rotary Club of La Jolla said the $175,000 figure includes “a 30% overhead in case tariffs or other things increased the cost.”
All said, organizers have garnered $130,000 in donations, along with $7,200 in grant funding.
“It was really a grassroots thing (with) different members of the community coming by and seeing how these firefighters were living day by day,” Davenport said. “I think they were kind of appalled and wanted to give back. I know that many people who gave were people who knew people or are people who have been saved by Fire Station 16.”
Any funds leftover from the first phase will go towards phase two, which encompasses a station kitchen remodel and further improvements to firefighters’ living quarters, or for additional supplies needed for Fire Station 16. Phase two has not been formally approved by the city and the exact scope of the project is undefined at this point.