Archimages of Kirkwood will provide architectural and engineering services to design a new firehouse for the Mehlville Fire Protection District, the Board of Directors has decided.

The Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to select Archimages to design the district’s new No. 2 firehouse that will be constructed on a roughly one-acre parcel at the corner of Telegraph Road and Whitshire Drive in Oakville. The district will pay the firm a lump-sum fee of $96,000 for its services.

Archimages was one of eight firms responding to the district’s request for proposals for architectural and engineering services to design the new firehouse, which will be a one-story energy-efficient building with roughly 5,600 square feet of space.

Of the eight firms responding, board members, district administrators and two residents ranked the proposals on a point basis. The three firms scoring the highest — Archimages, Washington Engineering & Architecture of Washington and White & Borgognoni Architects of St. Louis — were invited to make presentations to the board Sept. 6. At that meeting, board members and administrators ranked the presentations, adding the points to each firm’s previous score.

Archimages ranked the highest.

Before the Board of Directors’ Sept. 13 meeting, board Secretary Ed Ryan and other district officials met with R. Gregory Garner of Archimages to discuss the firm’s fee proposal.

Referring to the previous presentations to the board, Ryan said Sept. 13, “… Archimages had the best points afterwards and we opened their fee envelope this evening and met with the principal, Gregory Garner, to just resolve any questions that might have been in the fee envelope, as well as make sure that our contract, there was nothing in there that … jumped out at them that they found hard to live with.

“We’ve accepted their fee, a lump-sum fee of $96,000, and I’m proposing that we sign a contract with Archimages for the construction of the House 2 …,” he said.

Board Treasurer Bonnie Stegman seconded Ryan’s motion, which was unanimously approved.

A tentative budget of $1.31 million is proposed for the new firehouse, but Ryan previously said the final budget would be established after an architect was hired and design documents were completed.

The district’s existing No. 2 firehouse, built in the 1950s in the 5600 block of Telegraph Road, is deteriorating and needs to be replaced, according to board Chairman Aaron Hilmer.

The Board of Directors earlier this year purchased the property at the northeast corner of Telegraph Road and Whitshire Drive for the new firehouse from Darrel D. “Dean” Climer of Oakville for $600,000.

The tentative budget of $1.31 million excludes the cost of the property.

The existing No. 2 firehouse will remain open during construction of the new fire station. Once the new firehouse is completed, the Board of Directors plans to sell the old fire station and land.