Fire Station 1 at 300 E 4th St. started construction Dec. 1 to repair flood damage from June 2021 and modernize the station.
The project is funded by the Economic Development Local Income Tax Bonds approved by the Bloomington City Council in the 2024 budget according to a City of Bloomington news release. Construction is estimated to cost $4.5 million and be completed by October 2024.
“We appreciate our professional, resilient and innovative Fire Department personnel who have kept our city safe for more than two years from a temporary headquarters,” Mayor John Hamilton said in the news release. “We look forward to welcoming them back to an updated and improved downtown home.”
Fire Chief Jason Moore said the major differences between the new and old station is the new one will have individualized dorm rooms, restrooms and shower facilities instead of group sleeping quarters and a locker room. Though the new station will no longer have a basement, it will have a sprinkler system.
“Realistically, it is going to be a modern fire station and it will meet all the modern station design guides for safety and security,” Moore said.
Moore said the work on the station started about four years ago but had to be postponed and altered due to the flood. He said Fire Station 3 on Woodlawn is the next station to be renovated and it is currently in the engineering phase.
“We were working on a remodel that was supposed to start this year anyway, but with the flood we had to reevaluate and check to see if there were other properties that were better,” Moore said. “As long as we fix the flooding issue, the current site is the best site.”
The temporary fire station is located at the former law offices on 226 S College Ave. Moore said they are using the temporary station so services can continue. He said no one got laid off, they have just relocated where the services are coming from.
“Having everything centralized tends to flow better and is more efficient,” Moore said. “We are hoping to have it all put back and make it better than it was before the flood happened.”
Moore said projects like this can be expensive, but they are great investments in the community.
“We are very thankful for the taxpayers and everyone that helped make this possible so we can continue to provide excellent service,” Moore said.
