Culver City : Fire Station Sites Studied

The City Council, acting as the city Redevelopment Agency, voted Monday to consider two sites for the relocation of Fire Station No. 1.

One is the “Meralta II” site, which is near City Hall on the back half of property owned by the Redevelopment Agency, south of Culver Boulevard between Irving Place and LaFayette Place. The other is on the police station parking lot behind City Hall.

City staff had preferred the Meralta II site, partly because relocation at the police station parking lot would require the acquisition of seven residential lots to the east.

Jody Hall-Esser, assistant executive director of the Redevelopment Agency, said relocating to the police station site would require a $4-million to $4.5-million cut in the agency’s activities. Several projects would have to be canceled or postponed to make up for the cost of moving to the site, she said.

Hall-Esser asked that the council postpone a decision on the project until a financial analysis is made in 30 to 45 days.

Some council and agency members preferred the police station site because they said the Fire Department might operate better if it was located closer to City Hall and the Police Department. Others favored it because they wanted a civic center where all city buildings would be clustered together.