The initial plans for phase 1 of the new Winfield public safety center represented a sort of “wish list” for city officials, but are now being whittled down in order to fit within the budget.
A 1 percent retail sales tax to fund the center was approved by Winfield voters in June.
The first phase of the plan presented at the Winfield City commission work session on Friday morning would cost the city about $4.7 million. Staff is trying to get construction costs down to about $3.7 million, community development director Patrick Steward said. The first phase consists of building the fire department area, with the police department, a training area and remodeling of the existing fire station part of later phases. Total estimated cost is $14 million.
Steward said Fire Chief Vince Warren has been looking at ways to increase the efficiency of the first phase. About 3/4 of bringing the costs down would involve reducing square footage, Steward said.