On Friday, the City of Portage and the Portage Fire Department broke ground on a new fire station along Central Avenue. The new Fire Station 3 will replace the old station that is currently connected to City Hall. Station 3 will serve a larger purpose than simply a new building. It’s going to be a large part of Portage's Founder’s Square Park and the new downtown area being developed.
“It’s very exciting,” said Marcia Jones, Portage resident and City Hall Coordinator. “We’ve been in need of this for a long time. It’ll be so wonderful for our fireman to have such a state-of-the-art upgrade. It will take care of this whole east side of the city.”
With the growth of the city and the Fire Department the old station at City Hall became too small for the needs of the department. The new Fire Station 3 will more than double in size from 6,000 sq/ft to around 14,000 sq/ft. Included in that space will be a kitchen, day room, bunk area, weight room, conference room, a functional area and the watch office.
“Last March we officially started the process,” said Fire Chief Tom Fieffer. “We’re always looking to improve the community and Mayor Snyder said we should do something about Station 3. We put together a committee and started looking at stations around the region and put our plan together. Without the committee members we wouldn’t have the fire station you’ll see here. They spent hours in meetings on their own time and we really appreciate that. ”
“I really want to thank the citizens of Portage,” said Fieffer. “They are the ones who allow us to be the great organization that we are. They demand a lot from us and we always want to step up to the plate and give a lot back to them. You have the best fire department because you want the best fire department and they always support us and make sure we have all the equipment to be the best we can.”
The new building is expected to take a year to build and will be completed in August 2016. In planning for the new Fire Station 3, committee members wanted to take inspiration from old fashioned, downtown fire stations and apply that, as well as modern efficiencies, to the new building.
“Obviously we’ve outgrown the original station,” said Engineer Raymond Blazek of the old Station 3, which was built in 1967. “This is pretty exciting! Building the new station on the south side was huge for everyone. The committee did a great job here. The goal was to build a Fire Station to last 100 years.”
With its bi-folding doors and old fashioned multi-story layout, the committee, architects and craftsmen will create a unique design that will serve as the centerpiece for the new downtown Portage for many years to come.
