Sycamore mulls multi-million dollar plans to fix 66-year-old fire station or build anew

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore City Council recently considered proposals to renovate Fire Station 1 or build a new one the city’s south side, two options that each would cost more than $11 million.

Kluber Architect + Engineers presented the plans to the City Council last week.

Before Chris Hansen and Habib Ansari of Kluber Architects spoke to City Council, acting Sycamore Fire Chief Bart Gilmore – who took over when Fire Chief Carl Reina was sacked months after assuming the role – gave the council a preface on the current condition of Fire Station 1.

Located at 535 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore Fire Station 1 was built in 1957 and served as a combination building for City Hall and the fire and police stations until 2003, Gilmore said.

There’s room for two fire engines at the station, but they have to be parked back-to-back, Gilmore said. That means if the front vehicle is out of operation, they both are, Gilmore said.

The 66-year-old building is not compliant with Americans With Disabilities Act regulations, contains asbestos, and is heated by a boiler nearly as old as the building, he said. Firefighters manning the station have slept in the cold three times during the winter when the boiler went down, the chief said.

“On top of that, the windows are cracked,” Gilmore said. “I spent one night in this building during last winter – which I talk about all the time to these guys, and they’re very impressed with me for it – and you could hear the windows rattling, and I think that’s where the cracks come from.”

When asked by 4th Ward Alderman Ben Bumpus, Hansen said Fire Station 1 needs about $3 million worth of deffered maintenance. Nothing would need to be spent on the old facility, however, if a new one were constructed, Hansen said.

According to city documents, Kluber Architects + Engineers estimated a 5,900 square-foot renovation of the current fire station would cost between $12.7 and $15 million. Building a new station at a different location would cost between $11.4 million and $13.6 million, the documents show.

The estimated cost to create a new station factors into the price of acquiring land, but does not include the cost of demolishing the old facility.

City Manager Michael Hall said Sycamore’s Finance Department would take Kluber’s projections and present updated figures for at the June 5 City Council meeting.

A renovation of Fire Station 1 would take approximately 31 to 41 months. Building a new fire station is estimated to take between 25 and 33 months, according to city documents.

“You’re all probably looking me going, ‘I’ve never heard a construction project and design process taking this long.’ But the reality of today is we can’t get all the materials anymore, as fast as we used to be able to,” Hansen said.

Gilmore said he believes the Fire Station 1 is past its workable age, and hopes Sycamore City Council comes to the same conclusion.

Gilmore worked for the DeKalb Fire Department before joining Sycamore Fire Department last year. Gilmore aid DeKalb’s oldest fire station is a comparable age to Sycamore’s Fire Station 1.

Gilmore said he prefers to relocate and build a new fire station. Presently, fire engines stop traffic as they make multi-point turns to back into the bay of Fire Station 1.

Additionally, Gilmore said 74% of the department’s calls for emergency response occur on the city’s south side, meaning firefighters have to navigate through Sycamore’s most congested streets to respond.

“DeKalb Avenue is very busy. I would see it on a near daily basis of people making bad decisions driving-wise with a fire vehicle,” Gilmore said. “I worry about the liability to the city. I worry about hurting civilians. So, yeah, I think moving it somewhere else would be better.”