Mondovi Ambulance Association breaks ground for new building

by Beth Kraft

Excavation work recently began at the future home of the Mondovi Ambulance Service on Water Street, bringing intense conversations and planning that have taken place over the past two years to a new phase—action.

“I’m very excited to see the building starting,” said Bryan Gibbs, Director of the Mondovi Ambulance Association. “To see the dirt moved and now the forms poured—it’s exciting.”

Finding a way to combine all ambulance operations in one place has been a long-term goal for the Mondovi Ambulance Association.

“It’s always been a dream to have everything under one roof instead of four different locations,” said Gibbs, who has been an EMT in Mondovi since 1998.

Currently, the Association meets and conducts training sessions in the City Council chambers, Gibbs’ office is at City Hall, and the ambulances are stored in the city building with one unit in the garage and the other in a back building, which isn’t heated. EMTs that live outside the city stay in a camper behind the city garage while on call.

Two years ago, the building project gained traction when Steve Stamm, an Eau Claire businessman from Mondovi, got involved.

Gibbs says Stamm approached him and then-Mondovi Mayor Sharon Beauchamp about putting up a building for the ambulance, utilizing a lease-to-own option.

The Association had considered other options for a building location, including an offer from the city of a lot in the Mondovi Industrial Park or joining up with Buffalo County to create a central space as part of a new county shop building that is currently under construction on South Eau Claire Street.

But Gibbs notes the streets in the industrial park tend to blow over in winter, and the price to create a space in the new county shop building came in much too high.

“Our share of going in with the county came back at $420,000,” said Gibbs.

The new building going up on Stamm’s lot on Water St. about a block east of S. Eau Claire St. is slated to cost about $250,000.

Plans for the new building call for two garage bays to house both ambulance units and a director’s office with space for training and meetings. A bathroom and an EMT office space complete with foldout beds and a kitchen area add more useful features that will give the out-of-town EMTs “all the comforts of home,” said Gibbs.

“It’ll make it a lot nicer because we’ll have everything under one roof,” he added. “All of the [ambulance] units will be inside where it’s heated,” which is better for the equipment.

Getting the EMTs out of the chilly camper behind the city building is also a major positive of the project.

“Last year wasn’t too bad, but the year before was about $4,000-$5,000 alone in propane just to heat that camper,” said Gibbs.

Temperatures plunged below zero many nights during the bitterly-cold winter of 2013-14.

Last winter the ambulance service worked out a deal with the city that allowed EMTs to stay in the house on the former Olson property on Mondovi’s south side.

Another perk of the new building is the ambulance will remain centrally-located within the city—a key component to prompt response time.

“We’re staffed 24/7, 365 with three people for our first unit out,” said Gibbs.

The building project, which is being headed up by Stamm, is slated to be completed by the end of the year.

“The big thing is getting the foundation and the walls poured,” explained Gibbs, noting the masonry work will follow in order to get the building enclosed before cold weather hits.

The Mondovi Ambulance Association consists of a total of 25 EMTs and drivers as well as reps from the City of Mondovi and all seven surrounding townships—Mondovi, Drammen, Naples, Dover, Gilmanton, Albany and Modena.

The ambulance covers 5,700-5,800 people across that area since picking up Drammen Township three or four years ago after Gold Cross discontinued service in that area.

Mondovi’s EMTs must complete 30 hours of training every two years to keep their licenses current, said Gibbs. Continuing education is also a part of the monthly ambulance service meetings, which are held the third Wednesday of the month.

An open house will be held to put the new Mondovi Ambulance Association facility on display for the community once it is complete.