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Mount Prospect firefighters move into new station

Mount Prospect firefighters have moved into their new Fire Station 14, which has been under construction for about a year.

The new $8.5 million building is located at 2000 E. Kensington and will serve the north end of down, said Finance Director David Erb. Mount Prospect's other two fire stations are at Golf and Busse roads and downtown near village hall.

The former Fire Station 14 was located on the same site and was demolished before construction began on the new one, Erb said.

The village will host a grand opening at 10 a.m. on May 29.

But before then, the Mount Prospect Historical Society will host a fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. on May 21 at the new station. The event will include tours, a "firehouse dinner" of chili, hot dogs and hamburgers, and an open beer and wine bar. There will also be live entertainment, an auction and giveaways. The cost is $40 per person and all benefits will go to restore the 1896 Central School - the building where the Mount Prospect Fire Department was founded on Sept. 29, 1913.

"They certainly have come a long way from those days," said Greg Peerbolte, executive director of the Mount Prospect Historical Society. "The entire force was all-volunteer and its equipment was comprised of eight buckets, two axes, two pike poles, an extension ladder and a roof ladder."

To make reservations call (847) 392-9006 or visit the historical society's website at mtphist.org.

Central School, seen here circa 1900, was the site of the formation of the Mount Prospect Fire Department in 1913.