The City of Lawrence officially opened its newest fire station during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 26 at Station 38, 4450 McCoy St.
Lawrence Fire Department Chief Dino Batalis, Mayor Steve Collier and other city officials were on hand for the celebration.
Battalion Chief Steve Lizon, committee chair for the Station 38 project, said the $10.5 million project took nearly five years.
“We had the pandemic. We had supply issues. We had worker shortages,” Lizon said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were days where I didn’t think this was going to happen, but here we are.”
The approximately 17,700-square-foot facility replaces a firehouse that was built in 1986 at the same location. It has a decontamination room, a weight room, 14 dorm-style living quarters and a workshop area.
Batalis said the firehouse was designed by DELV Designs, which collaborated with the firefighters who would be stationed at the facility to ensure their needs were met. The station was built by Garmong Construction Services.
Lizon said one feature made with the firefighters in mind was emergency alarms that could be set to go off only in certain rooms within the facility.
“Before, the lights would come on and everyone would get woken up,” Lizon said. “Now, we can set it to certain dorms.”
The new station also has a separate building to hold reserve fire apparatus. Lizon said prior to the new facility, reserve equipment was spread throughout stations across the city.
“Now, they’re centrally located,” he said. “They don’t have to wake up guys at the other station. They can come here and do it.”
The new station will eventually have a Safe Haven Baby Box installed. It will be the only baby box in the City of Lawrence.
