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Two new Elk Grove Village firehouses to open next week

Elk Grove stations are coming in under budget, mayor says

Elk Grove Village firefighters are days away from moving into new firehouses after a year of construction. The stations are two of the most visible aspects of the village's $140 million, multiyear infrastructure program.

Next Tuesday, the new $8.5 million, 15,000-square-foot Fire Station 10 at 676 Meacham Road will become operational. It replaces the former four-decades-old firehouse on site that officials say needed a number of upgrades to remain functional. The new building increases the number of bays from three to four.

On Wednesday, a $15 million, 20,000-square-foot fire station and training tower at 700 Fargo Ave. in the village's east side business park will open. It consolidates and replaces Fire Station 9 at 1655 Greenleaf Ave., a one-engine smaller firehouse that was 48 years old, and Fire Station 8 at 1000 Oakton St., which was 27 years old and had operational deficiencies, officials said.

"We've kept all the same equipment and manpower," said Mayor Craig Johnson. "The response time to the residential community is quicker at this Fargo location than either one of the Oakton or Greenleaf locations. And financially operating one station makes sense."

In total, Elk Grove is going from four fire stations to three, including Fire Station 7 on the municipal campus at 101 Biesterfield Road.

While the final construction costs are still being tabulated, both fire stations are coming in slightly under budget, Johnson said. He attributed that to economies of scale realized by construction manager MTI Construction Services' doing both projects at the same time.

Earlier this week, the village board inked a sales contract with Bensenville-based CH Global Holding for the old firehouse on Greenleaf for $407,000. The trucking company plans to use the building as a maintenance garage, Johnson said.

Last year, the village sold the Oakton station site to Brennan Investment Group, which is developing its $1 billion Elk Grove Technology Park on an 85-acre parcel that includes the former sprawling Busse farm - and now the nearby firehouse property.

Johnson said that property sale alone was "more than able to pay for" the new consolidated Station 8 just blocks away on Fargo. The village also is using funds from a $60 million bond issue, paid back through electric utility tax revenue.

The village will hold ribbon cuttings and public tours at both stations Saturday, May 18. First, at 9 a.m., officials will cut the ribbon at Station 10 on Meacham. Then, at 10:30 p.m., they will do the same at Station 8 on Fargo. Tours of both facilities - as well as the renovated west side public works building at 1635 Biesterfield Road - will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day.

Other projects in the infrastructure plan include upgrades to streetlights, aesthetics, bicycle and pedestrian access, roads and drainage. The original plan, unveiled in 2017 at an estimated cost of $105 million, has grown in scope.

Johnson said this week the public works department will complete an analysis by this fall to evaluate every street in the village, while a separate study will look at drainage issues. As a result, it's likely more street and stormwater work will be incorporated into Elk Grove 2025, perhaps pushing its completion date to 2026 or 2027, Johnson said.

  Elk Grove Village's new fire station at 700 Fargo Ave. consolidates two stations on Greenleaf Avenue and Oakton Street that are closing next week. Christopher Placek/cplacek@dailyherald.com
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