The City of Chula Vista has to decide what it will do with two empty lots that used to be fire stations. The old Stations 5 and 9 were demolished last week.
“It’s kind of sad,” sighed Beatriz Gonzalez who lived next to Station 5 on Oxford Street for three years.
The city built a new Station 5 a few miles away. For a short while in 2021, the old station served as a COVID-19 clinic before it was torn down.
“We’re worried about what’s going to come next,” Gonzalez said.
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Martha Fraga Lopez is eager to see what will be built where Station 9 used to stand on Oneida Street. She saw the station nearly every day since she moved into her home more than 50 years ago.
“Firemen always ran the neighborhood,” she smiled.
Station 9 was also recently demolished. Earlier this year, the city replaced it with a new Station 3.
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Chula Vista has not announced what it intends to do with those properties. The City Manager was scheduled to give an update during Tuesday night’s city council meeting. Her comments were delayed because the full city council was not present.
“If there was a home that was there, that would be awesome,” Lopez said. She admitted she’s scared the lot will be sold to a developer who will build several apartments or condominiums on the single lot.
“A park would be nice,” she added.
Gonzalez agreed.
“I would like it to be something for the community more than anything,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the city said the old fire station lots should be discussed at a city council meeting later this month.
