This old location and a vibrant downtown core are mutually exclusive, IMHO.
I sat in on the HPRB presentation, and the problem is not design, but FUNCTION! If the "downtown core" develops as intended and beneficial, how in the world will this station location provide rapid service and/or not be destructive of downtown "atmosphere" and vitality?
This station location is fine while it's still a relatively sleepy downtown core, but . . . if everyone had dogs that howl at the sirens every time they roll out--TODAY, perhaps "they" would think twice about this faulty planning choice.

I too sat in on the FD presentation to the HPRB and came away a with a feeling that relocation to the Herndon Parkway ( police station) was not an option that was given due consideration. A lot of the objection to relocation to a better site ( my opinion) dealt with response times. I find it hard to believe that a rescue vehicle cannot repond in a timely manner from the Herndon Parkway location. With a developed and active downtown full of cars and people, I would think the current site would not be desired by the fire rescue planners. I hope the TC gets the attention of the County and get the station moved to the Herndon Parkway.

I am confused. Just a few years ago, a fire service higher-up proposed a 12 million dollar project that would have put a new fire station in Stanton Park - so that it could be right along the Herndon Parkway. That proposal failed because the price was massively excessive (a nearby fire station nearly twice the size had recently cost about 2/3 as much), and people roused to defend the park. And now somebody is saying that the Herndon Parkway is not a good location? I fail to see how a location near the Herndon Police station on Herndon Parkway would be worse than the Stanton Park location on Herndon Parkway would have been.

However, a couple of years ago I was talking to one of the actual firemen who perform this service for us. He said he felt (and he seemed to believe that the others felt the same way) that they wanted to stay a the location where they are, and be downtown with the people.

I was talking to one fireman at a small event. I don't really know how the rank and file firefighters feel. Maybe we should solicit their input.

Ann and Carl, I think this new location was partially prompted by the rank-and-file, many of whom have personally told me they much prefer the downtown location. Among other things, crews can sit out on the front ramp and interact with the community. There are a couple of places within walking distance to snag a sandwich without forcing everyone to pile in the rigs.

From an operational standpoint, I understand there has been some debate about the effect of a move on response times. Anecdotally, I know a lot of their call volume is in south Herndon, and the Herndon Parkway location moves them further away from that area. Moving the station to Herndon Parkway also invades the response areas of FS25 (Reston) and FS39 (North Point), while moving some of south Herndon into the district covered by FS36 (Frying Pan) and thus elongating their response times. In addition, there are quite a few large events held in downtown (Herndon Festival, Friday Night Live, etc.), and the downtown location puts them within 1/10 of a mile of those events.

Without intending any disrespect to your views, I think this is a good decision on their part, and I commend them for thinking outside the box and effectively using their existing resources. I say this even though I live closer to the Herndon Parkway location than to the Spring Street location.

Excellent conversation here everyone! Really insightful discussion.

There is no question that it is great to have the station "in the middle of the action" . The persent location is not only historic, it is more a part of community life. There is no question that the design options "make do" functionally at the Spring Street location. They do effectively force fit essential accommodations for personnel and equipment into a very limited area. The question is how much forcing really works well.

How many times will emergency vehicles have to get through event crowds (and/or activities be arranged to permit emergency vehicle passage)? In an urban setting that's just the way it is IF THERE ARE NO OTHER CHOICES.
Even though being in the middle of things is a great asset, and there are large events to service, according to earlier presentations there is also a need for larger and different equipment than can be accommodated in the present location.

TRADE-OFFS are part of planning and operating -- but are there more critical service problems downtown than in any Parkway location?

One thing not in question: Thankfully, Fairfax County requires new county facilities to be built to green LEED standards.

Perhaps the human essential of having happy emergency personnel is the greater need and can result in better service in spite of limited equipment and certain maneuvering drawbacks. Additional "stuff" may or may not be important. I just don't know the technology, but apparently that's the choice that has been made at this point.

Ann and Carl are absolutely correct. The best location to serve our community is on Herndon Parkway next to our police station. Town owns this property, which it could sell or long-term lease the land to the County and hopefully replace the commercial rental income it currently generates. Unfortunately the Town and County never seriously negotiated this option when it first was developed about two years ago. The Herndon Parkway location, in addition to being in a commercial vs residential area, also makes sense in light of our coming Metrorail station only a few blocks away. Our elected officials need to re-explore this option and do what is best for our community's safety....place the new County fire station on Herndon Parkway....in exchange for a land lease or sale and the current downtown Spring Street station.

Thanks, Richard . . . I didn't want to leave out the economics, but that isn't my "thing". The coverage areas of various stations is a critical FD element, though. I saw the overlaps etc in their presentations.
Did coverage work better on the property north of Stanton Park adjacent to the Parkway? Guess costs became a problem there. BTW, people should not refer to that alternative as "Stanton Park" because it is actually the wooded area outside Stanton Park to the north, though there was one small corner area traded somehow on the plan. There was a real nice stand of native Lycopodium ("ground pine", "creeping cedar" ... one of the clubmosses) on that property -- the only patch folks we know had found in Town, but otherwise as a natural area it was not high quality (in plant community terms). That special plant was being destroyed by neighborhood kids' trail bikes at one time, and though JD & DPW made some efforts to protect, even that is probably gone by now. Doesn't a fire station within 1/4 mile (or some distance) reduce homeowners insurance a little?

I know, get real and go back to HPD.

After thinking some more about this, I wanted to share some additional thoughts. I should emphasize that I'm not representing the fire department, so my comments are purely my own and might not reflect their thinking.

First, a move to the police station might mean a significant shift in response areas. It is likely the relocated Herndon station would pick up territory in Reston, including all or part of Reston Town Center. At the current location, their territory already includes Reston Hospital and the Reston government complex, so that move means they would likely pick up a good deal more territory in Reston.

Second, moving to Herndon Parkway means they'll probably have to give up territory on the other side of the Town to the Frying Pan station on West Ox Road, including potentially Worldgate and some areas along Herndon Parkway such as Four Seasons. The area around Rock Hill Road and the Loudoun line could be problematic because it will be a long response for either station. In fact, that area could be closer to the Sterling fire station. However, because Fairfax has a more limited mutual aid agreement with Loudoun than with other localities, I don't think it's likely that Sterling would respond to that area even if they are closer.

I think it would be interesting if Leslie delved into the County's thinking and response data on this, because my gut tells me that a move would be costlier and would create several pockets of poor response times in Herndon.

This predates my time on Council but it is my understanding that the current location is actually the most cost effective and the one that allows for the most even response times across the entire Town. I am told that the prior efforts evaluated dozens of sites, for both cost, responsiveness, environmental factors and neighborhood impact and that the economics of the Herndon Parkway site was a problem (County didn't want to pay what the land was worth to the Town and Town was not willing to 'donate' or sell the land at a steep discount), along with response time. I am told Stanton Park was a challenged as a location for response time and strong neighborhood opposition to this location (basically Stanton Park is entirely surrounded by homes) Might be too late to re-evaluate locations, given that the County has already bonded out for the money (I believe). I can check, if y'all are interested. Send a letter to Mayor and Council please!