County commission to vote on new Vamo fire station

Sarasota County commissioners will vote tomorrow on approving a new fire station for Vamo, the last of four stations in a capital improvement project.

Fire Station 14, located at 8821 South Tamiami Trail, will cost up to $3.8 million to build with Willis A. Smith Construction. The original capital improvement project, approved in 2013, allocated $21 million to build new stations in Vamo and on Bee Ridge Road, University Park and Twin Lakes.

The original station, built in 1980, is 3,600 square feet, with 1,680 square feet of living quarters. The new station will be built on the same half-acre site, but will be a 10,469 square-foot, two-story building with two fire truck bays. Construction will begin this month and the station will tentatively be completed by March 2016.

In the interim, the crew staffed at Station 14 will be shifted to nearby stations during construction.

IF YOU GO

What: Sarasota County Commission meeting

When: 9 a.m., Tuesday, March 3

Where: Robert L. Anderson Administration Center, 4000 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice.