Albion shows off its new fire hall

ALBION, Neb. — Three and a half years ago, members of the Albion Volunteer Fire Department knocked on doors, telling the town’s residents why they needed a new fire hall and a sales tax to pay for it.

On Saturday, they showed off the finished product.

“We wanted to make sure as many people as possible are able to come out and basically see what they’re paying for,” said Albion Fire Chief Bruce Benne.

Albion is one of several central Nebraska fire departments that have made significant strides on a new fire hall this summer. Dirt work should begin on Ord’s new building this week, and Marquette is waiting only on a possible federal grant before beginning on its hall, too.

Albion’s former fire hall, which was built onto the foundation of a previous hall in 1978, was far too small for the department’s trucks, which have continued to grow in both number and size.

The arrangement left trucks butting up against a locker area, making it difficult for firefighters to change for calls and to properly maintain the trucks, Benne said.“When you’re in small quarters like that, it’s difficult to motivate people to get things done,” Benne said.

In May 2006, the city overwhelmingly passed a half-cent, 10-year sales tax to fund a new hall. Construction didn’t start for two years while the department built up tax money to reduce the amount it would have to issue bonds to cover.

Benne said that though the project seemed to be taking quite a while, it was worth it when the department moved in July into the new $800,000 hall that’s about double the size of the old one.

“It’s night-and-day different from the other one,” Benne said. “It’s a dream come true.”

Dan Krohn, a former Albion fire chief, said the new hall has made the response process on calls simpler and a bit quicker, and it’s also a good new asset for the town to have.

“You take just a little more pride in your community with anything you do to improve it,” Krohn said.

Ord firefighters opened bids on their new fire hall Thursday, and they plan to have the first dirt turned Tuesday, said Keith Shellhase, president of Ord Rural Fire Protection District No. 2 Board.

Like Albion, Ord is using an old fire hall — built in the early 20th century — that has been outgrown by ever-larger trucks and equipment.

The new fire hall site is just a few blocks away in downtown Ord, and the district plans to build a 16,000-plus-square-foot, $1.3 million hall there.

Shellhase said the current fire hall is not handicapped-accessible, with a meeting room on the third floor. It also often requires firefighters to move one firetruck to get to another when responding to a call.

“It’s only two or three minutes, but two or three minutes could mean a lot in certain situations,” Shellhase said.

The board — formed when the city fire department and rural fire board merged last year — approved a $1.4 million bond issue for the building and some equipment this summer.

The building, which will include a storm shelter for community use, is set to open in spring if this winter is a mild one.

In Marquette, the project was awarded a $187,000 federal Community Development Block Grant in August, completing the funding needed for the $700,000 building, said Sam Andersen, a member of the Marquette Rural Fire Board.

The group has received a little more than $100,000 in private donations and grants from several Hamilton County foundations. It also issued a bond to cover about $425,000 of the building’s cost, with an additional $245,000 of the bond paying for a new fire truck.

Those sources will cover the cost of the project, but the group also applied for a $250,000 grant from the Assistance to Firefighters program within the federal stimulus package.