Town officials hold groundbreaking ceremony for new fire station in Normal

Posted on October 4, 2024

*Fire Station 2 will be built at the northeast corner of Hershey and Shepard Roads and will replace the fire station at College Avenue and Blair Drive. (Photo courtesy WMBD-TV)*

NORMAL – The dirt was scattered and the excitement was high for the expansion of the town of Normal’s fire department on Shepard Road.

With an over $7.5 million budget and a $1 million grant from the state of Illinois, the groundbreaking for the construction of the Normal Fire Department’s second fire station took place Thursday morning.

Normal town council, Normal Fire Department and workers of CORE Construction all dug in shovels to commence work on the station.

Mayor Chris Koos spoke in front of a crowd of firefighters, town officials and construction workers as they ate breakfast.

“We’ll be building your new home away from home here,” Koos said. “A modern, airing, wonderful fire station. And hopefully, we will get it done quickly.”

Town of Normal officials said the building of a second location will reduce response time in the area by about half.

“[It’s] part of an overall strategy of the Town of Normal to have modern facilities that provide the best response times to our citizens in their time of need for emergency service and fire protection,” Koos said.

Completion of the 10,000-square-foot project is expected in 12-15 months, with “substantial completion” expected in Oct. 2025.

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