April 12, 2025
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Sycamore city to break ground on new fire station May 5

Construction on $10.5M fire station will replace aging DeKalb Ave. facility

By Camden Lazenby
Ian Wheeler, a Sycamore firefighter/paramedic, talks about the items carried aboard one of the engines Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at Sycamore Fire Station 1.

Ian Wheeler, a Sycamore firefighter/paramedic, talks about the items carried aboard one of the engines Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at Sycamore Fire Station 1. (Mark Busch)

SYCAMORE – Construction of a $10.5 million new Sycamore fire station, which will replace the city’s 68-year-old station on DeKalb Avenue, is expected to break ground in less than a month.

Sycamore City Manager Michael Hall on Monday told City Council members the plan for the groundbreaking event set for 4:30 p.m. on May 5. The start of the long-discussed project will take place 90 minutes before the expected Sycamore City Council meeting that day.

“We’ll be quick over there, take some pictures and then come over to the City Council meeting,” Hall said.

The roughly 19,000-square-foot, $10.5 million new Sycamore Fire Station will be built on about 6.3 acres of land donated by Ideal Industries south of the corner of Borden Avenue and South Prairie Drive in Sycamore, according to city documents. The site, shown here on April 10, 2025, will host a groundbreaking May 5, 2025.

The roughly 19,000-square-foot, $10.5 million new Sycamore Fire Station will be built on about 6.3 acres of land donated by Ideal Industries south of the corner of Borden Avenue and South Prairie Drive in Sycamore, according to city documents. The site, shown here on April 10, 2025, will host a groundbreaking May 5, 2025. (Kelsey Rettke)

The roughly 19,000-square-foot fire station will be built on about 6.3 acres of land donated by Ideal Industries south of the corner of Borden Avenue and South Prairie Drive, according to city documents. It will replace what the city calls Sycamore Fire Station No. 1 at 535 DeKalb Ave. That aging building is in need of $3.5 million to $4 million worth of deferred maintenance according to a 2023 study funded by the city.

The Sycamore City Council approved $10.5 million for the new fire station when it authorized the fiscal 2025 budget in December 2024.

The project will be funded through $8 million in bonds, $2.5 million from the city’s general fund and $220,000 in interest income, according to the city’s budget.

It’s not the only new home being built for area first responders.

In DeKalb, a new fire station is expected to finish construction this month. That fire station, an 8,000-square-foot-facility at 1130 S. Malta Road, is expected to cost $4 million and will be the city’s fourth.

Although Sycamore’s fiscal 2025 budget included funds for the new fire station, it wasn’t the first time city officials spent money on the project.

In October, 2024, the Sycamore City Council awarded an $800,000 contract for construction managing services for the project. Earlier in 2024 the city entered into an $86,920 agreement with Oak Brook-based FGM Architects for the preliminary design and concept plan.

FGM estimated the new fire station to cost $7.6 million, with a total project cost of $10.4 million, according to city documents.

Ringland-Johnson, the construction company the city hired for the project, will be on hand for the groundbreaking on May 5, Hall said.

“They’ll have the shovels, the hats, any other types of things we need,” Hall said.

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