Warehouse Demolition to Make Way for New $12M Grand Rapids (MI) Fire Station

The Grand Rapids Fire Department is building a new fire station at 1823 Division Avenue. (Rendering by Integrated Architecture)
The Grand Rapids Fire Department is building a new fire station at 1823 Division Avenue. (Rendering by Integrated Architecture)

Melissa Frick
mlive.com
(TNS)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – An old warehouse on the south side of Grand Rapids is going to be torn down soon for the construction of a new fire station.

The city has approved a contract with Pitsch Companies to demolish the building at 1823 S. Division Ave. this spring. In its place, the Grand Rapids Fire Department will build its new $12 million facility, Fire Station No. 10.

A demolition date has not been set yet, but Grand Rapids Fire Chief Brad Brown said the building has to be torn down by April, which would allow construction of the new fire station to start this summer.

The 18,000-square-foot Division Fire Station is expected to be completed by fall 2026. It will be a two-story, three-bay station with living quarters, a community room, and a separate entrance for police and ambulance crews to access the kitchen and lounge.

Brown said the city is planning to eventually develop a pocket park, playground or futsal courts on a grassy knoll on the north end of the station.

“We’re really looking at bringing a lot of value to that neighborhood,” he said.

The $12 million station will replace the nearly 100-year-old one currently in use on South Division Avenue, which is just two blocks north of where the new station will be. Brown said the current Division Avenue station is old, dilapidated and has faced structural problems including roof leaks and “rotting” in some places.

The Grand Rapids Fire Department announced plans to build the new Fire Station No. 10 in 2022 and initially planned for it to include training and emergency operations centers, at a total construction cost of $25 million.

RELATED: Grand Rapids to construct new $25 million fire station replacing century-old one

However, the Division Avenue building was determined to be too small to fit all those facilities, so the training and operations center are now being built in a new facility at 850 Pannell St. NW that’s expected to be completed in 2026.

The new $43 million facility will house the fire department’s live fire training, maintenance shop and emergency operations center, and more.

The soon-to-be-demolished building at 1823 Division Ave. was previously home to local nonprofit In the Image, which moved in 2021 to its new location at 4255 Kalamazoo Ave.

The city purchased the building for $806,789 in 2020, property records show.

The Grand Rapids City Commission on Jan. 14 approved a contract not to exceed $273,280 with Pitsch Companies to demolish the old warehouse building, a project that’s being financed by the Blight Elimination Grant and the Capital Improvement Fund.

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