Council approves new fire station with unanimous vote

NORMAL – The long-awaited construction of a new fire station on Normal’s east side will begin in early October following a unanimous approval by the Town Council Aug. 19.

Fire Station 2 will be built at the northeast corner of Hershey and Shepard Roads and will replace the fire station at College Avenue and Blair Drive. The relocation of the fire station is the second phase of a multi-year plan to relocate the Town’s fire stations to improve overall response times.

Fire Chief, Mick Humer says, “The location of the new fire station will greatly improve our response times to the east side of the community. Right now, we are responding from Station 2 at College Avenue and Blair Drive and the average response time can easily exceed 9 minutes depending on the time of day and traffic. In an emergency, every second lost can mean the difference between life and death, and these response times are well over the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) average standard of 4 ½ minutes.”

In 2014, the Town conducted a strategic survey of Fire Department response times and analyzed the call volume and estimated response times based on current and proposed fire station locations. Based on the survey, a plan was developed to relocate all three existing fire stations to serve the needs of the community more efficiently and effectively.

The first phase of the project was the construction of Fire Department Headquarters at 606 South Main Street, which opened in 2017 and replaced the former fire station at Adelaide and Gregory Streets. The relocation of Fire Station 2 to the east side is the second phase the project. Soon after, phase three will address the relocation of Fire Station 3 from Raab Road and Henry Street to a location better suited to serve the northwest and west side of the community.

Chief Humer adds, “With the rapid growth of the community, we needed a solution to address the increased response times, and this new station will help tremendously. Other than residential developments, we respond to a large skilled nursing facility, elementary and high schools, commercial development, and miles of interstate highway, too, all of which will be served more efficiently by the new station.”

Chief Humer commented, “We are grateful for the support of the mayor and council to unanimously approve this project, and we look forward to not only improving the response times to these areas, but also being a good neighbor to our community.”

The $7,727,484 contract with CORE construction sets the project schedule and includes a $1,000,000 grant from the State of Illinois sponsored by former State Representative Dan Brady.

Groundwork for the site is scheduled to begin Oct. 9, 2024, with an estimated construction schedule lasting approximately a year.

To learn more, review the Council Action Reports from Aug. 19, 2024.