Current station has space limitations, not centrally located

The city is looking at building a new fire station due to space restrictions at the current facility that is located at City Hall, Albert Lea city manager Chad Adams said Monday.

“The department has outgrown its space,” Adams said.

Adams said the project will cost about $8 million. In a best case scenario, he expects the project could start late next year or in 2017 and be completed either slightly before or in 2018.

The new fire station could be in the East Main Street corridor, Adams said, so the Albert Lea Fire Department is in a more centralized location.

The city is looking at paying for the proposed new facility partially from a fire pension fund and from a capital bond. Adams hopes to secure the land where the fire hall will be located in 2016.

Adams said in the event that a new facility is built, a portion of the current facility may be rented out.

He said a new fire hall is a necessity for both the Albert Lea Fire Department and the city of Albert Lea.

“Time is of the essence for our crews to be able to get out the door,” Adams said. “When we don’t have the space to be able to do that to our best ability, it impairs the ability of the department to respond to fires in a timely manner.”

Jeffery Laskowske, deputy director of the Albert Lea Fire Department, also views a new fire station as a necessity.

“It is absolutely necessary,” Laskowske said. “Our station is outdated. We have no room to train people right now. Trucks are getting bigger and our bays are still the same size.”

Adams said a study was done three years ago that identified the current space for the fire hall as not being a feasible space for operations.

He said new ladder trucks can’t be fit into the current facility, so one has to be custom built for the facility.

The Albert Lea Fire Department currently has the equivalent of 17 full-time firefighters.