PBC Proposes Tentative Sites For 6 New Fire Stations

Proposed sites for six more new Chicago fire stations were approved Tuesday by the Public Building Commission of Chicago.

Construction of these new firehouses is part of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Neighborhoods Alive 21 program, a major investment in the city’s infrastructure that includes replacing the city’s most outdated fire and police stations.

The tentative sites were picked by the Chicago Fire Department based on public safety criteria, with locations best suited for dispatching the engine companies in response to emergency calls, according to PBC executive director Eileen Carey.

Tuesday’s PBC board action now goes to the Chicago City Council for approval. In August, the council approved replacing the buildings of two other fire engine companies, making a total of eight new stations designated to date.

Based on a standardized prototype design incorporating the most up-to-date firefighting technology, each new station will be one story tall and approximately 14,300 square feet in size. The new firehouses will include modern command centers and emergency communications rooms; oversized garage doors to accommodate today’s larger vehicles; and circular driveways to greatly reduce traffic hazards when the fire trucks quickly leave their buildings in response to emergency calls.

Updated kitchens and living quarters also will be features of the new buildings.

Engine companies slated for replacement stations and their proposed new sites are:

• Engine Co. 38, in a building constructed in 1915 at 2111 S. Hamlin Ave., to be relocated to a new firehouse on the southeast corner of 16th Street and Pulaski Road.
  
• Engine Co. 63, now located at 1405 E. 62nd Pl. in a station dating back to 1929, to be housed in a new structure on the north side of 67th Street between Blackstone and Dorchester avenues.
  
• Engine Co. 70, currently housed at 1545 W. Rosemont Ave. in a building constructed in 1905, to be relocated to a new station at the intersection of Clark Street and Peterson Avenue on the west side of the street.
  
• Engine Co. 102, currently in a building constructed at 1723 W. Greenleaf Ave. built in 1915, to be relocated to a new station on the west side of the 7200 block of North Clark Street.
  
• Engine Co. 109, now at 2358 S. Whipple St. in a station dating back to 1907, to be relocated to new quarters on the east side of the 2300 block of South Kedzie Avenue.
  
• Engine Co. 121, now at 1700 W. 95th St. in a building dating back to 1914, to be replaced by a new, larger fire station on the same block.
  

Previously, Daley announced plans to replace the outdated fire stations of Engine Co. 18, the oldest in the city at 1123 W. Roosevelt Rd.; and Engine Co. 88, built in 1927 at 3500 W. 60th St.