Bidding begins for construction of new Hobart fire station

By Janelle Fisher
Staff writer
HOBART — Brian Peters, project executive at Bayland Buildings, was in attendance at the Hobart Village Board’s Nov. 15 meeting to present the completed plans for Hobart’s new fire station.

The new fire station will be more than 17,000 square feet in size and include an office for the fire chief, additional shared office space, a kitchen, storage, five pull-through bays and a multi-room assembly area.

That assembly area, Peters said, will be able to be used for a variety of purposes as needed, including as an emergency center, command center or polling station.

The design allows for opportunities for expansion in the future, but according to Peters, “everything we need now and for the next several years is built into this building.”

Thinking towards the future, the plans for the new fire station also include bedrooms, laundry and showers to accommodate any potential future addition of personnel who would be at the fire station full-time, although no such additions are planned for the immediate future at this time.

The existing Fire Station No. 1 will remain standing and operational until construction on the new fire station has been completed.

Hobart Village Administrator Aaron Kramer noted that this new fire station will be the village’s first big construction project in decades.

“It’s our first major building project since Fire Station II,” he said. “Which was built around 30 years ago.”
Village President Richard Heidel added that although the lack of new buildings has saved the village some money, this project has become more than necessary.

“I think we’ve been fiscally prudent,” he said. “But at the same time, it should have been done a while ago.”

With the board’s unanimous approval of the plans at last week’s meeting, Bayland Buildings will put the project out for bids.

Bids for the construction of the new fire station will be accepted through Dec. 9 and be presented to the board either late December or early January.