Fire department nearly ready to show off new quarters

October 05, 2007
By Lisa Medendorp
Muskegon Chronicle

Muskegon firefighters were wiping countertops, carrying boxes and generally spiffing up the new $3.7 million Central Fire Station this week.

Outside, workers were putting the finishing touches on the landscaping in front of the 23,000-square-foot station at 770 Terrace, overlooking Muskegon Lake.

Moving day is coming -- though city officials aren't quite sure when the first firetruck officially will roll out of the new station.

"Hopefully, by the end of next week," said Tony Kleibecker, Muskegon's Director of Public Safety.

A few tweaks here and there, a few problems that still need to be resolved, and the new station will be ready. Construction started almost exactly a year ago on the city-owned lot.

Dedication day is Wednesday, when invited guests will attend an afternoon ceremony and tour the station.

On Thursday, a special Fire Prevention Week open house for the general public will be 4-7 p.m., complete with tours, equipment displays, activities for children and refreshments.

"When we designed this building, we wanted everything for the long term," said Mark Kincaid, deputy public safety director for fire services.

The station has a public area that includes a large community meeting room that also can be used as a classroom for city employees, police officers and firefighters.

Firefighter living quarters and administrative areas are private, along with the part of the building now occupied by Muskegon Central Dispatch.

Central Dispatch, the area's 911 emergency service, moved from the Verizon building a block away and is leasing space at the fire station.

Normally concerned with making sure they're prepared for whatever emergencies occur on each shift, Muskegon firefighters also carry a sense of history with them into the new building.

Molds were made of the bas relief-sculptured emblems outside the 77-year-old Central Station, 75 W. Walton, and replica tiles were made for the new station.

One of several brass fire poles from the old station is going to the new station for a display along with the cage around it.

Some firefighters still are using the poles to quickly slide from the old station's second-floor sleeping quarters to the firetrucks in the cart room below when an alarm comes during the night.

"Cart room" is a traditional name for where carts loaded with fire hose and other apparatus were kept in days gone by.

"There's a lot of romance to (the poles)," said Lt. Art Backstrom, although he admits to taking the stairs down.

Backstrom, who joined the fire department 23 years ago, said one of the things he's going to like about the new station is that "everything is on one floor." He also said he won't miss the exhaust fumes that used to drift up to the sleeping quarters.

Between the time Backstrom started his career and now, "with the quality and design of the equipment we use, it's almost like we've had 100 years of progress, and now we'll have a new station," he said.

"It's going to fit in with (other buildings) and give downtown some character," he added.

The area where firetrucks and other apparatus will be housed is huge. It has in-floor heaters so heat will stay in the buildings when the big doors go up and the firetrucks go out.

The new station was designed to allow firefighters to have a variety of training exercises indoors. The three-story tower visible from the street is part of that plan.

"From the outside, it gives the impression of a hose tower," Kincaid said. Prior to the use of synthetic hose material that started in the late 1970s, fire hoses used to be hung inside towers to dry.

"Everything in the training tower is exterior grade, meaning we can spray water inside it for training," Kincaid said. The tower is equipped with a dry standpipe that can be pressurized so hoses can be hooked up for firefighters to practice fighting high-rise fires.

A beam atop the tower can be used for rappelling, Kincaid said. There are anchors in each wall near window-size openings for rappelling. The openings will be used for ladder drills where firefighters will practice rescues.

A grate visible in the ceiling of the turnout gear storeroom, which resembles a vault, will help firefighters practice confined-space rescue.

"You had to use your imagination at the (old) Central Station," said Backstrom, who recalls rappelling from the roof over the lounge area down to the slanting driveway off Apple Avenue that leads to the basement.

Cole & Russell Architects Inc., of Cincinnati, worked with local officials to design the station. The firm, which partnered with local firm Hooker/DeJong Architects, "is famous for incorporating training into fire stations," Kincaid said.

Capt. Brad Vanderberg has a family history with the old Central Station, where he started training 22 years ago with his father, the late Battalion Chief Paul Vanderberg.

Memories of that station are not likely to fade for Brad Vanderberg and some of the other veteran firefighters.

"You were always walking in the footsteps of generations of firefighters," Brad Vanderberg said. But he added: "It's kind of exciting to get into a new place."

"While the physical environment will change, the people won't," Backstrom said. "That's what makes or breaks your station."

Backstrom said fellow firefighters will add some personal touches once they've moved in. "The camaraderie is the biggest thing, except for your sense of duty," he said.

"I think we've built some things into this station that will make it a nice station to work out of," Kincaid said.

© 2007 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission