The city of Coos Bay is one step closer to securing the property it wants to build a new main fire station. It’s also nearly ready to decide who will design it.

The First Presbyterian Church of Coos Bay’s congregation agreed Sunday to sell its property at 438 Elrod Ave. to the city for the fire department’s new home.

The decision is subject to final approval from the Presbytery of the Cascades, which is scheduled to meet in November.

City Manager Chuck Freeman said it was exciting to hear the congregation supported the sale, though he noted the sale is not final.

“We don’t want to be presumptuous,” he said.

The Coos Bay Fire Department has said the church location is its preferred site for a new building. It is centrally located �” positioned between Elrod and Donnelly avenues and within a block of Fourth Street. It also sits on shallow bedrock, not fill over marshland.

The city has a site design for the church property prepared by HGE Inc. HGE was one of three architect firms to pitch its proposal to the city council Tuesday for becoming the fire station’s designer.

Joe Slack, a principal architect at HGE, pointed to his firm’s 2 1/2 years experience working with the fire department in its planning stage. He also noted that HGE and its staff have been involved in fire station construction in Brookings, Reedsport, Charleston and North Bend. He also stressed the benefits of having a local company do the work, noting he could frequently attend council meetings to provide updates.

Cross-town rival Crow/Clay & Associates focused on its history of building sustainable construction. Principal Architect Mike Crow said his firm would focus on designing a building with a long life span.

“How long that building lasts for you really determines the sustainability it has,” he said.

He also noted that Crow/Clay has a history with the city, designing the Coos Bay boardwalk and the firefighters memorial.

The final firm to present to the council, Peck Smiley Ettlin, of Portland, had the longest resume of fire station construction, numbering 62 projects. Hans Ettlin, a principal architect, said his firm designs its stations specifically to the community.

“We respond to your community, your program, your needs,” he said.

Although his firm hasn’t worked on the South Coast, he noted that a fire station in Corvallis required a similar design as it houses cadets such as the ones who go to Southwestern Oregon Community College.

The two local firms would get help from out-of-town architects with more fire station experience.

Crow/Clay, which is the city’s architect of record, would hire Pivot Architecture, which has designed fire stations in Eugene, as well as in Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif.

HGE plans to work with Paul Bentley, an architect in Roseburg, who has designed a number of fire stations in the Springfield area.

All three companies emphasized the opportunity to build a station meeting the criteria of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

The city is expected to pick an architect at its next meeting on Nov. 4.

The city passed a $6.9 million bond measure in May to fund construction of the new station, which will allow the fire department to move out of its aging home at Fourth Street and Anderson Avenue.

Freeman said the city would like to begin construction on the new station next spring. That timeline may be delayed by the church’s prior commitment to Head Start, which has two classes in its building. Its contract with the federally-funded preschool program runs through June 1.

The city is scheduled to meet with church leaders Monday to make a formal offer for the property.