Published: December 15, 2007 08:32 pm         

Fire station ready for its big debut

New fire station built at nominal cost to taxpayers

It’s nothing fancy, but it will be home to dozens of city firefighters in coming years, the central hub of firefighting activities on the city’s west side.

The public will have its first chance to see the new station during an open house today from 1 to 2 p.m., at the newly created address of 3108 W. Sycamore St. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will follow at 2 p.m.

Compared to the old station at the corner of Sycamore Street and Dixon Road, the new station is larger by a third and capable of housing four pumper trucks in its bays.

Dormitory facilities at the old station will be replaced by individual bedrooms and three full baths. The old station features four beds sitting at the corners of a room dominated by free weights. In the new station, the weight room is separate, sitting off to one side of the truck bay.

The new station even has a back patio with a gas line for a grill, and separate food pantries (and three separate refrigerators) for the three shifts which will man the station.

Other new features include two separate laundry facilities — one for regular laundry like bedsheets and uniforms, and another with a heavy-duty washer for items which have been contaminated during ambulance and fire runs. Another room off the main truck bay will serve as storage space for firefighting helmets, boots and suits.

Some new phones, beds and a radio tower they were going to buy anyway are the only things city officials bought for the new station, Kokomo Fire Chief Dave Duncan said.

The rest of the $1.25 million station was built by Peacock-Dixon LLC, the Indianapolis developer which will soon be building a new Walgreen drug store on the site where the old station stands.

The new station was built as part of a project which will involve moving the Wendy’s and Subway restaurants along Dixon Road to the north to make room for the new Walgreen.

All told, Duncan said, Peacock and its investors will spend more than $7 million to make all of that happen.

“I really got what I wanted, and I think it’s a really good opportunity for us,” Duncan said Thursday. “The fire department came out great on this. This is a building that’s going to last us for a long time.”

Duncan said he hopes to move into the new station, which was still undergoing work Thursday, by Christmas. Thursday an electrical contractor was getting ready to turn power back on at the building, and some of the caulk around the door frames was still wet.

“It’s a $1.25 million building at no cost to us. All we have to do is trade locations, and that is sweet,” Duncan said.

Scott Smith may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

     

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