Olathe plans to spend about $14.5 million on its future Firehouse No. 9 planned northwest of College Boulevard and Woodland Road. On Tuesday, city staff and contracted architects from Finkle + Williams gave a presentation to the Olathe City Council focused primarily on the design of the future firehouse. This particular property was donated to Olathe from the historic Hoff Family Farm along with land for a future city park, dubbed Pioneer Park. In an email to the Post, Olathe Fire Public Information Officer Capt. Mike Hall reiterated the location’s importance for the fire department, pointing out that northern-central Olathe has seen steady growth over a number of years. In the last decade, he said the volume of calls for service in this area has grown more than 200%. During the city council meeting, Olathe Fire Chief Jeff DeGraffenreid emphasized how important addressing that demand is. “I don’t know what the day will be, but this is going to make an impact in somebody’s life,” DeGraffenreid said. Plus, this firehouse has a good location for travel purposes as well, Hall said.
Source: Johnson County Post
