The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District closed escrow Friday, Feb. 1 on a building that has housed Century 21’s Boulder Creek real estate office.
The volunteer district purchased the property at 13208 Highway 9 and the neighboring parking lot from local realtors Steve and Randy Ziganti, who owned the property.
The property, which was purchased with $404,000 of fire district reserve funds, sits adjacent to the fire station, separated only by a fence.
Negotiations for the property began in late 2011 when the Steve Ziganti offered the building to the fire district, which had shown interest in the building in the past.
Rick Rogers, president of the Boulder Creek fire board, said it was a perfect fit.
“It kind of fell on us,” Rogers said. “They knew we had an interest from the past, and we said ‘Yeah, we’re outgrowing the station.’”
Fire Chief Kevin McClish said the new building will be split in half with a sound-proof wall before firefighters move in. The rear portion of the building will house the firefighter’s workout room, while Century 21 will lease the front portion of the building — about 1,100 square feet for $1,551 per month — as an office for the next four years.
“It was an opportunity we really, really couldn’t pass up,” McClish said.
McClish said the district houses five firefighters in cramped quarters above the existing administration office.
The purchase allows the gym to be moved away from the living quarters and more space for living quarters, if the need arises.
“Someday we might have more firefighters living at the station,” Rogers said.
Also, the district leases a building on the rear of its current property to the Boulder Creek Recreation and Parks District. With no new facility on the horizon for the parks department, it was unlikely the fire department would be able to utilize the rec hall or its offices.
The purchase was made from the district’s mobile equipment reserve, which dropped from $1.04 million to a little more than $635,000. In all, the district has a $1.52 million reserve.
“This worked really well for us,” Rogers said. “We’re not looking to build a new fire station. It came up, and it was a good purchase.”
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