A new fire station in Grayslake will bring faster responses to a portion of the village that includes a senior housing community, an official said.
Fire Chief John Christian said the community’s third fire station is being built because of Grayslake’s growth in recent years, and that a faster response time in certain areas of the district’s 25 square miles is necessary.
“It’s a really long drive down into that southwest part of our district, where we have a population of senior citizens and a couple of townhouse and house subdivisions,” said Deputy Chief Greg Formica. “It can take us seven, eight, nine minutes on a good day to get out there.”
The new station will cut the department’s response time to emergencies in that part of town in half, or better, Formica said.
The 10,600 square foot fire station is expected to cost about $2.5 million, which will be taken out of the department’s general fund, he said. Exact costs won’t be known until bids are finalized in the next couple of weeks.
It will be located at Peterson Road and Route 60, near the Saddlebrook Farms senior residential community. The new site is also near the planned Cornerstone development, which upon completion will include office, industrial, retail and rental space.
Chicago-based Alter Construction Management is in charge of the building project, with construction beginning this month and a scheduled completion date in September.
The building will be a single-story structure with a brick exterior, with the interior including fire truck and equipment areas, supervisor and watch offices, firefighter dormitory rooms and a day room.
The new station will use current equipment and staff – including 33 full-time, seven contract and 40 part-time members – will be shared among the three district locations.
Alter will also oversee improvements to the new station’s 1.7-acre site, including a septic field system, a water-well system, an underground water reservoir and landscaping.
Formica said the department hopes to begin fully operating the station in November or December.
