Tampa Fire Rescue and the project's construction manager presented an updated schematic design and schedule for a new Fire Station 24, telling City Council the team has reduced the building's size and remains slightly ahead of schedule.

At a council meeting, Barbara Tripp, Fire Chief for Tampa Fire Rescue, introduced senior director Ken Guyad of Colliers Project Leaders as the project manager and said the presentation would cover recent milestones, design changes and next steps. Colliers reported the schematic design package was finished “a little bit ahead of schedule” and that a constructability and cost estimate review is due in October.

The revised plan reduces gross building area to 17,213 square feet from prior iterations the presentation said, down from an earlier design of about 19,800 square feet and an original space-needs assessment that called for 24,135 square feet. The schematic design will move into a constructability review and then into design development; the construction estimate tied to schematic design was scheduled for the October constructability review, with design development plan updates estimated around Dec. 9.

Ken Guyad described site changes and cost-saving measures the team has adopted. "We have been able to eliminate the underground drainage structures that were a big part of the cost of the project," he said, and noted the team is discussing power-line relocation with the utility (TICO) with a preference to bury the lines. Guyad also said the design now preserves the three large mature trees shown on the site plan and includes tree-mitigation and protection measures in contract documents.

The plan anticipates four apparatus bays and dormitory and support space sized to accommodate 11 firefighters (two captains, one lieutenant and one district chief across three shifts). Guyad said the current plan is intended to allow expansion and colocation of rescue and engine resources as the North Tampa area grows.

Council members pressed the team on schedule, capacity and long‑term needs. Councilman Viera asked whether a previously discussed late‑September groundbreaking date remained realistic; Guyad said the team hopes the October constructability review will allow the schedule to be pulled earlier and that switching to tilt‑up wall construction could shave “weeks, not days” and possibly months off the timeline. Councilwoman Hertek asked that the October update include a construction budget tied to the constructability review; Guyad said the contractor's construction-budget estimate is the intention of that October deliverable and that there will be multiple cost estimates as the project proceeds through design development and construction documents.

Council members also discussed future demand in North Tampa tied to development near USF and Fowler Avenue, and asked whether the station has space to grow. Tripp and Guyad said the station is designed with expansion in mind and that the four-bay layout was selected to allow additional apparatus or rescue resources to be added as needed.

Council members thanked the fire department, the union representatives who had advocated for the station and the project team for moving the work forward. No formal vote was taken on the project during the meeting; staff said they would return with the constructability review and updated construction estimate in October.