Crews are in the early stages of construction for the Peoria Fire Department’s replacement station on Northmoor Road.
Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger says the new Station 16 is beginning to take shape after the old facility was torn down last month.
“I just went by there this morning. They’re pouring footings right now,” Sollberger said Thursday. “The fire station has been demolished; it’s been cleared. I talked to the contractor and you’ll start seeing walls erected next week.”
In December, Peoria City Council approved a $4.2 million bid from Peoria Metro Construction to build the replacement for what had been the department’s oldest station still in service. Earlier this week, the council passed an ordinance amendment allowing for some property zoning waivers.
“We had a couple trees and then setback lines, because of where our parking lot was going to be, and we just had to make adjustments,” said Sollberger. “We’re talking about a couple feet here and a couple feet there, nothing that was going to be intrusive on our neighbors to the west or our neighbors to the north. But we didn’t want anybody in the public to think that we were pulling any wool over their eyes.”
The property was developed as a fire station location following its 1965 annexation into the city, with a special use permission added in 1997. The previous station had been deemed too small to accommodate a six-person crew, and it was in need of updated technology.
The new facility will have two engine bays just like the since-demolished station, and it will add a community room intended for public use. That created the need for additional accessible parking.
Sollberger said the construction timeline would see the fire department open the new Station 16 in November, barring any extended weather delays.
Two engines on order
In a separate action this week, the council authorized spending up to $2.4 million to purchase two new fire engines – three years from now.
Sollberger explained it was necessary to get the order in place now because there’s a nationwide backlog that's increasing the lead times.
“Before COVID, you could create your budgetary requests, go through a bidding process, award a bid, and receive a fire apparatus all in the same year,” said Sollberger, adding that over the past three years the wait times steadily increased. “In 2025, it takes you in excess of 48 months to have a fire apparatus built.”
Sollberger attributes the backlog to a combination of worker shortages, a lack of supplies, and an increase in orders as municipalities look to use their American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funding.
“There’s only so many vendors out there that actually build fire apparatus, so it’s like a clogged drain,” said Sollberger. “It’s not unique to the City of Peoria at all. Any municipality that’s purchasing fire apparatus, you have to be able to look four, five, six, years into the future to say, ‘what type of fire apparatus am I going to need?’”
Sollberger said there is one noteworthy advantage to ordering these new engines three years in advance.
“The huge benefit for the city is that you're locking in on 2025 pricing. So any price increases that they have in that industry for peers, so we won't experience them,” said Sollberger. “That’s actually the selling point on our end. I haven’t found an industry yet where the prices come down; whether I’m buying a T-shirt or a fire truck, everything goes up over the course of time.”
