Miami-Dade County voters on Tuesday approved the construction of a new fire station in Miami Beach’s Flamingo Park. The statewide referendum was supported by about 75% of voters as of 9:30 p.m., with nearly all precincts reporting their results.

Miami Beach City Commission officials had previously determined that Flamingo Park was a promising site for Fire Station No. 1, the reconstruction of which has been under discussion since 2015.

For years, there has been debate between two main sites: one in Flamingo Park and one to replace the South Shore Community Center. The South Shore Community Center was originally chosen as the site for the station, but Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez led the movement to save the building, which was designed by architect Morris Lapidus and houses a community daycare center.

However, a station in Flamingo Park brings with it financial problems and lengthy construction. The city’s General Bond Committee approved $10 million for the project in 2018, of which $3 million has already been spent. The proposed fire station in Flamingo Park would create a budget gap of $15 to $19 million. The station’s location within the park would require relocating drainage systems and the existing tracks, a process that has many community members concerned.

The current station is located at the corner of 10th Street and Jefferson Avenue, while the proposed fire station would be located in the park between Alton Road and 11th Street, an area that Miami Beach Commissioner Tanya Katzoff Bhatt said is “underused.”

Because the park was to be used for purposes other than parks, the building permit had to be on a statewide ballot. The recently passed referendum does not guarantee the construction of the fire station at Flamingo Park, but it does allow Miami Beach to proceed with planning on the site.