LEBANON — Last Tuesday marked the opening of the new $23.6 million Lebanon fire station, seven years after a study of the city’s public safety buildings found that the old building did not comply with modern industry standards or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Since city officials opted to demolish the old building in 2024, the fire department’s administration has operated out of the SAU building at 20 Seminary Hill, while firefighters used a temporary station at 193 Dartmouth College Highway, near the Lebanon Middle School. The temporary station will be removed now that department staff have transitioned into the new station.
“It’s going to take time to get into a flow in a new facility,” Lebanon Fire Capt. Jeff Egner said in an interview in the station’s expanded kitchen and common area.
One of the biggest issues with the old station, built in 1954, was that it lacked the necessary safeguards to protect emergency responders and building personnel from the toxic particulates that linger on firefighters’ gear after a fire.
This is of particular concern given that occupational cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters, Fire Chief Jim Wheatley said in an interview in his new office.
To help keep staff safe, the new 24,000-square-foot station includes a “decontamination zone” where firefighters can shower and clean their uniforms in a sealed environment, Wheatley said.
Thirty-six firefighters and paramedics work in the new station, Wheatley said.
Offices that previously resided next to the apparatus bay, where the fire trucks are kept, have moved to the third floor, which is the largest structural difference between the old and new station.
The apparatus bay entrances are also three feet taller than those in the old building, meaning the department doesn’t have to order special ladder equipment to fit into the bay.
Designed by Lavallee Brensinger Architects, a firm based out of Manchester, N.H., the new building also includes an office for the paramedics and community nurses who run the department’s integrated health program.
A new air system is another improvement. While the old station only had a heating circuit and air conditioners, the new building uses an HVAC system to regulate the temperature and air flow throughout the station.
The building also has separate locker rooms for men and women, while in the old station, women responders had to use a bathroom as their locker room since the mid-century building only had facilities for the men.
To make the station ADA compliant, architects included an elevator in the new building, which also has three stairwells, instead of two.
While the department keeps its response time under six minutes in the city center, which it was able to maintain at the temporary station, Wheatley expects the new layout and additional stairwell will make it easier for firefighters to reach the bay.
This week, firefighters were still adjusting to the layout of the new building.
Even little things such as finding the broom or where the cups are stored in the kitchen will take some getting used to.
“It’s going to be an Easter egg hunt doing our chores later today,” Egner said on Thursday.
In addition to the Central Street Fire Station, the department also hopes to rebuild the West Lebanon fire station in a new location that can accommodate a larger building.
The same 2019 Public Safety Facilities Study found that the 63 Main Street building had poor energy efficiency and a failing boiler system, among other issues.
At this point, the construction of a new building is “a long way down the road,” Wheatley said.
He was unsure how much it would cost to build a new West Lebanon station.