Davenport’s new, state-of-the-art fire station moves forward

Amy Priest is looking forward to a new, $10 million fire station that will be built in the northern part of Davenport. The Davenport Fire Department lieutenant said the new station will better serve the city by cutting down on fire call response times, be a better workplace for firefighters and offer the needed room […]

Amy Priest is looking forward to a new, $10 million fire station that will be built in the northern part of Davenport.

The Davenport Fire Department lieutenant said the new station will better serve the city by cutting down on fire call response times, be a better workplace for firefighters and offer the needed room for firefighter training work. “It’s going to be great for the community and great for the firefighters. … I’m also looking forward to having more space for training,” said Ms. Priest, who was among the city’s firefighters attending a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday morning, Aug. 31, for the new Fire Station 3. The new station will be built at the corner of 42nd and North Brady streets east of NorthPark Mall. If all goes according to plan, construction work will begin in the next week or two and the station will be in service in late 2023, according to officials attending the groundbreaking. “This will be a great part of our community. … This will be a community facility with a public safety aspect,” Davenport Mike Matson told a crowd of about 100 people gathered for the project’s kickoff. The ceremony took place on an empty lot just off North Brady Street and across the street from the new Tommy’s Express Car Wash located to the south and a new commercial building being built on the north side.

But that empty lot is expected to be the center of activity in the next few days. Clay Merritt, Davenport’s assistant public works director, told the crowd that construction work may start as early as next week with crews cleaning up the site and doing foundation work. In the fall, crews will begin building the exterior “vertical element” of the new station, and interior work is scheduled to begin in the spring. Plans call for the fire station to be completed in the fall of 2023. “This is a great day. … The new station is actually becoming a reality,” Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said before the ceremony. The fire chief said that once completed, the new fire station will replace the city’s current Fire Station No. 3, 3506 Harrison St., that was built about 60 years ago. That current station faces several issues including fire call response times being hampered by one-way traffic on Harrison Street, occasional flooding from the nearby Duck Creek, and the old building no longer meets the current needs of the community, Mr. Carlsten said. “The building was not designed for today’s workforce and fire vehicles.” 

In addition to providing a modern facility, the new fire station is needed in northern Davenport as that side of the city continues to grow and develop, the mayor added. Some of the features of the new fire station will include:

• A facility boasting almost 18,000 square feet and able to house up to nine firefighters.
• Three drive-through bays, living quarters for men and women firefighters, a kitchen, workout room and will be designed for quick movement through the building.
• Decontamination and storage rooms where turnout gear can be placed to keep carcinogens and other toxins away from living areas.
• Large glass overhead doors and windows, which will show off the station's fire apparatus.
• A 60-person community room that can also serve as a storm shelter.
• The new fire station is being designed by Cedar Rapids-based OPN Architects. During Wednesday’s ceremony, David Sorg, a principal at OPN, told the crowd that the new station will “set a new benchmark for design” in the region.