Construction of new Gurnee fire station nearing completion, $1.2 million under budget
Construction of a new fire station on the south end of Gurnee is coming in on time and under budget, according to village officials.
Gurnee Fire Chief John Kavanaugh said work crews have started on the facility's interior and are about 95% done with the exterior of Fire Station 3, which is being built near the intersection of Route 21 and Manchester Road.
"We're coming into the home stretch," Kavanaugh said during a presentation to the village board this week.
Kavanaugh and other members of the department will be doing a walk-through of the building and making a final list of outstanding tasks.
The project was approved by the village board a year ago, when it was expected to cost about $7.1 million. Assistant Village Administrator Jack Linehan said the final cost ended up at $5.9 million because there was a lack of construction demand during the pandemic.
"It is why we moved forward with the project in 2020 in the midst of our own financial uncertainty," Linehan said. "We are glad that we did, as many projects out to bid currently are seeing extreme price increases with the supply chain disruptions and the demand for labor increasing."
Linehan said the Warren-Waukegan Fire Protection District will pay the first $2 million of the loan the village took out to fund the construction. The village will repay the remaining $3.9 million from 2026 to 2031.
The decision to build a new station on the south end of town came after analyzing 10 years of 911 call data and looking where the longer response times were. Response times to the southern parts of town lagged, especially when there was a crew out on a different call, officials found.
Kavanaugh said the new fire station is on track to go into service in October. Officials hope to have the building ready by Sept. 29 to host the annual intergovernmental picnic between the village, the Warren-Newport Public Library, the Gurnee Park District, Warren Township and area school districts.
A public unveiling ceremony is expected in October.