Seaside is building a second fire station – without the city of Marina – and the costs are rising.

With Seaside planning to expand its footprint of development further north, and into the former Fort Ord, the city is looking to ensure it has adequate fire protection in its northern half. It’s an especially urgent concern since the Presidio of Monterey Fire Department’s lease with the city of Seaside for its station on Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard – between Gigling Road and Lightfighter Drive – is expiring in August 2023.

Instead of retrofitting that fire station, Seaside is planning to build a new one at Gigling Road and First Avenue – just east of Highway 1 – and move part of their fire department into the facility.

When the topic was presented to City Council last September, the estimated cost of the new station was projected to be $9.6 million – according to the city’s adopted budget – and the possibility existed to share the station with Marina’s fire department. Only councilmember Jason Campbell championed that idea during the meeting, and it was shot down by his colleagues, who moved forward with an architectural study for a station for Seaside Fire only.

On March 17, City Council approved the conceptual designs for the fire station with a budget for the project that ballooned, in less than a year, to approximately $17 million.

But Acting City Manager Roberta Greathouse says the original estimate was never a hard number, and that, “When we look at projects, we do back of the napkin math.

“The cost of everything has gone up huge,” she adds, citing supply chain issues and the increased time it takes to build. “All the costs just go up.”

The city hopes to have the new station built in time for the nearby planned development Campus Town, approved in early 2020, and which – if it’s ever built – is envisioned to provide nearly 1,500 new housing units, as well some hotel rooms, retail, dining and entertainment.

For that to happen, the city still needs to give the 122 acres a clean bill of health.