Des Plaines buying more land on Oakton Street for new fire station
Des Plaines will purchase more property on Oakton Street near Fire Station No. 62 for the eventual construction of a new firehouse.
The city will pay $315,000 for a house at 1327 E. Oakton St. and $330,000 for a house at 1333 E. Oakton St.
Fire Station No. 62 is at 1313 E. Oakton St., just west of the two sites. The city already owns the land at 1319 E. Oakton, having purchased it in 2021 for this proposed project, City Manager Michael Bartholomew said in a memo.
Both properties had been listed for sale, Bartholomew wrote, and he negotiated purchase prices.
The city council on Monday agreed to purchase the houses without public discussion as part of its consent agenda for routine matters.
Station No. 62 is the oldest of the city's three stations. The others are at 405 S. River Road and 130 E. Thacker St.
Des Plaines officials once considered replacing Station No. 62 with a new firehouse at Lee Street and Prospect Lane, and the city bought land for such a project.
But officials backed away from that concept after voters rejected the plan via a citizen-driven advisory referendum in 2004.
The city eventually sold the land and have focused on replacing Station No. 62 with a new facility where it now stands.
Officials proposed building a fourth station on Central Road in 2008, but it never materialized.