St. Charles firehouse funding will lock in today

The parking lot that used to sit next to St. Charles' Century Station downtown is now a dirt hole, occupied by heavy construction equipment and the promise of the bigger, better fire station that's to come.

This week, the city council approved the borrowing of $14.5 million to fulfill that promise.

The $14.5 million is true to the planned upon amount in the city budget. The bonds went out for bid Thursday. The returning cash will fund the renovation of the 17,000 square feet of office space known as Century Station to accommodate an influx of firefighters. The former parking lot next to Century Station that is now the site of most of the current construction activity will become a 7,000 square foot building to house the fire trucks in three total bays.

The firehouse itself is only budgeted at about $5.7 million. The bond money will also fund the reconstruction of the wall that provides a barrier between city hall and the Fox River.

Once complete next year, the new firehouse will allow enough room for bigger, better firefighting equipment and better response times to emergencies.

The current firehouse downtown will be demolished. Discussions have yet to occur about what will exist in its space.

The city plans to pay the bond money back in yearly payments of about $1 million.