Palatine to open new fire station

With Dundee Road 30 seconds to the north, Northwest Highway less than 60 seconds to the south and four-lane access immediately outside, a new Quentin Road fire station will significantly improve response times to west and northwest Palatine.

And now that officials have hired an architectural firm to design the station, those response times - currently pushing six minutes to outlying areas - could be cut to under five minutes by the end of 2010.

Monday, the Palatine council approved paying Carol Stream-based Williams Architects $221,000 to design the $3 million station at the northeast corner of Quentin Road and Echo Lane.

Of the 20 interested firms that submitted qualification statements, staff interviewed four finalists. Village Manager Reid Ottesen said Williams, whose portfolio includes fire stations in Barrington, Schaumburg and Highland Park, stood out for its understanding of the project, experience, expertise and references.

Construction on the 8,500-square-foot station is scheduled to begin in March. It will replace the Dundee Road station, which the department essentially inherited from the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District in 2001 after the village annexed a portion of the district's territory.

The Dundee Road station's location is far from ideal, according to Fire Chief Bob Falardeau. "It can be a real problem heading west since Dundee is two-lane traffic," he said. "We're striving to get under five minutes and the new location will allow for that."

He said the village is in discussions to sell the old station. Proceeds from the sale and possible government grants could help pay for the $3 million project.

Falardeau doesn't expect the relocation to affect staffing, which currently stands at 95 sworn firefighters.