Just before Christmas, there were a number of subcontractors working, inside and out, on the new 32,000 square foot fire station being built at the corner of 111th Avenue and Mississippi Boulevard.
Chief John Piper of the Coon Rapids Fire Department recently toured the progress on the fire station construction, along with Daryl Lepper, the project manager working for Kinghorn Construction.
The new fire station will be the replacement building for the old Fire Station 3 which is located off 113th Avenue. It will include new health and safety features, such as a decontamination area for firefighters.
"When the firefighters come back from a call, they don't have to go into the living quarters, they can stay out here and get deconed,” Piper said. “They can take a shower and get all the dirt and carcinogens off of them, right out here."
The building design includes two drive-thru apparatus bays and, four, double deep bays.
Up on the mezzanine level, they'll have a dedicated training space. "It's a training mezzanine,” Piper said, “so we'll be able to set up a maze up there, for firefighters to practice search and rescue."
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the project will wrap up just in time for summer.
"The completion date is currently the end of June, so we're hoping it'll be done by then,” Piper said.