New Morris fire station on track for June 2024 opening

The new Morris Fire Station at 200 Armstrong street is still on track for a June 2024 opening and costs have remained in line with the original $5 million price point.

Construction started back in March and Morris Fire Chief Tracey Steffes said things have gone mostly smoothly since then, beyond some manufactured steel coming in that wasn’t quite up to Narvick Bros. standards. It slowed construction for about 10 days but it’s since picked back up.

Since then, ComEd has started a redesign of an electrical supply to the building by adding some new poles into the alley that will power the firehouse and some of the other buildings near the railroad tracks.

Steffes said this redesign started in around January or February, and the construction process for which started this week. It was expected to take two-to-three weeks, but workers could be done faster. Once that’s done, workers will be able to set trusses on the roof, and the cinder block work should be done within the next two weeks.

Brickwork will start on the outside of the building after.

“So, things are going good,” Steffes said. “They’re probably gonna do a little cleanup around the site and start doing some grading of the gravel and the dirt around it to get it close to the finished elevation.”

Steffes said the department is happy with how things are going in the construction, with the contractors and subtractors, and he’s looking forward to seeing the finished-product.