Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Rep. Juan Ciscomani tries on some turnouts during a visit to the Pima Fire Department’s old station in August 2023. Recently the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed a package that included $2 million to Pima for a new fire station.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – It looks like Pima will get its new fire station.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani previously earmarked $2 million in funding for Pima’s new fire station and that funding has now passed through committee. With the town of Pima’s entire annual budget less than $3 million, having a grant for $2 million in funding is extremely beneficial.
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed a package that includes $26 million in projects for Southern Arizona. Out of those 13 projects pressed by Ciscomani and approved by the Committee, three are going to Graham and Greenlee counties with the $2 million for Pima’s fire station; $1.3 million for the Graham County Gila River Linear Park and Trail Project, and $274,00 for the town of Duncan and Hunter Estates Drainage Mitigation and Design in Duncan. Ciscomani also got $859,000 for Northern Cochise County Community Hospital in Willcox.
Pima Town Manager Vernon Batty was with Ciscomani at a press conference at the JTED center in Tucson on March 15 to announce the awards and was pressed to speak on behalf of the town. Batty informed those in attendance and those watching on video of how much the town values the grant to build its new fire station. Batty thanked Ciscomani’s staff and said they did the yeoman’s work on getting the grant.
“For us to get this money is a huge deal,” Batty said. “Our fire station has served our purposes for many years, but we need a modern fire station to be able to house our 33 volunteer fire(fighters). We have one of the largest volunteer fire departments in the state and when our fire station was built firetrucks were smaller. New fire trucks actually don’t even fit in our bays. So, we have to spend more money and get specially-made smaller fire trucks to be able to fit in there.”
Ciscomani said he intended to make sure every part of his district received a project.
“My goal was to get a project to every single county, so we chose the projects that were the strongest and had the chance to make it all the way through,” Ciscomani said at a press conference.
Ciscomani toured the current station in August 2023 to see the issues firsthand. The station was originally built in the 1960s and has a slew of issues. Along with a much larger size to accommodate the new, larger fire trucks and more, the new station will also be built above grade so it no longer floods, and be designed to mitigate any potential hazardous, cancer-causing carcinogens that firefighters are exposed to.
“We are super excited for this money but haven’t held any official meetings yet to discuss the funds,” Pima Fire Chief Terry Earp said. “Unfortunately, we are still shy of enough for current building plans but hoping we can re-evaluate our needs and get things rolling. (We’re) just super grateful for Ciscomani and his team for everything they have done for us!”
While it won’t be funded by chicken dinners and whatnot this time around, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been tremendous support and work from the community.
The next chance to help out will be attending the Pima Fire Fest Car Show on Saturday, March 30, starting at 9 a.m.
The new fire station will be constructed in the same location as the current building except that its footprint will now encompass what is currently the Pima Public Library as well. A new library will be constructed adjacent to Pima Elementary School. That project is funded by a $200,000 grant from the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties and is currently waiting on the engineering for the metal building to be completed.
Pima Fire will wait for the library to move before demolishing the old fire station and is looking to come up with about $500,000 in matching funds as currently planned. The matching funds can come from other grants and donated time and material – such as during the demolition of the current fire station, according to Daryl Weech, chairman of the station relocation committee.
The next step will include the federal government deciding which agency will funnel the money to the town. Between waiting on the library move, funding, and more, Weech believes it will be roughly six to 12 months before the town can break ground on the new fire station.
Graham County Gila River Linear Park and Trail
After being first proposed by the Gila Watershed Partnership in February 2020 to develop 5.5 miles along the Gila River adjacent to Safford and Thatcher into the Graham County Gila River Linear Park and Trail, federal funding has now been approved to help make the trail a reality.
Ciscomani got the House to approve $1.3 million for the Graham County Gila River Linear Park and Trail Project.
The space will not only enable hiking, running, biking, and horseback riding but will provide opportunities for economic development through eco-tourism and create beneficial public uses for the river’s floodplain. Having a multi-use pathway that has both paved and soft surfaces and is American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant will ensure equitable access to this space as well.
The initial trail will run from Highway 70, north by the canal along Graveyard Wash to the river and then along the south of the river going west to 20th Avenue. Future extensions could see the river trail eventually connect with the multi-use path at Reay Lane and Highway 70. That path runs through Thatcher, Graham County, and Safford and ends in the area of the Safford Cemetery and the intersection with Discovery Park Boulevard and Highway 191. The city of Safford will construct a new park in that same area.
