Task force to decide: One new fire station in La Crosse or five?

Price could get pushed into $30-million range 

A task force is suggesting La Crosse needs a new fire station on the south side.

Another thought out there is that every fire station in La Crosse should be replaced because they’re all decades old. Cost could be anywhere from $15-$30 million for four or five new stations.

A study indicated that almost all of the four existing firehouses should be replaced, at the potential cost of $5 million dollars per building.

Fire station task force member Doug Happel wants to see numbers on the possible price tag for bringing the stations up to speed.

Assistant fire chief Mark Amann said the task force plans to make some recommendations in the next month or two.

“Do we remodel a couple stations and put that off further down the road? Do we look at immediate needs?” Amann said. “That is really the task of this committee.”

Amann says a study of fire department response times shows that the area near the Mormon Coulee Rd. overhead needs better protection. Much of that area is more than four minutes from the closest fire station, near Central High School.