This from Daniel Hynd:
The former Darien-Woodridge Fire Station 88 is up for sale
Price: $975,000 Building Size: 10,771 SF Property Type: Special Purpose Total Lot Size: 1.6 Acres Year Built: 1969 Highlights
- Prime Lisle Township, DuPage County
- Corner location at fully signalized intersection, with 17,700 cars per day traffic count
- Quality construction building with approximate 20′ clear ceiling
- Easy access to highway and Interstate system
Description
SVN Chicago Commercial is pleased to present this unique opportunity to develop or re-purpose the former Darien -Woodridge Fire Station. This property is located in Lisle Township in unincorporated area of DuPage County, on the fully signalized southeast corner of Belmont and 59th Street, within minutes of I-355. This 10,771 SF building sits on 1.59 acres (69,217 SF) of land. Wonderful potential to develop medical offices, school, senior living, or daycare centers, multifamily with proper zoning changes.
Location
The subject area is considered to be within the greater Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area. The subject property is located in Lisle Township in unincorporated area of DuPage County, Illinois approximately 20 miles west of downtown Chicago. Access is provided via frontage on Belmont Road and 59th Street.
#1 by Jim on August 18, 2020 - 2:46 PM
Tim,
I would say Division 21 has areas too but you bring up a great point about station locations. Suburban departments are set up and constrained by municipal boundaries that may not make sense when looking at an area as a whole. This is why you see station locations within a mile of one another but in different municipalities or districts. I believe operational consolidations and operational service agreements may be the answer so two different municipalities may combine single engine houses into a double house creating a more efficient response with an engine and a truck. This has been done over the years in Chicago as they have combined older station locations into double houses. I understand there will always be those that are worried about staffing reductions but this is where union contracts with staffing provisions come into play.
#2 by Tim on August 14, 2020 - 5:20 PM
Jim, which south suburbs did you have in mind? Mabas 24 comes to my mind to start.
You have single station depts that own multiple engines, trucks, and ambulances each, that are so close to each other it’s not funny. Start with Homewood, Hazel Crest, Floosmoor. You can then look at Country Club Hills, who has station 14 down the street from Hazel Crest and around the corner from Oak Forest station 40. I can go on and on but dinner is ready.
#3 by Jim on August 14, 2020 - 4:15 PM
Bill,
I look at the Palatine, Palatine Rural and Rolling Meadows (RPM) as an excellent example. They have adopted the same guidelines but also make sure duplication isn’t happening. They share a training officer and well as fire marshal. Equipment is located in the same cabinets on all apparatus creating greater efficiency. I look at the south suburbs as an excellent opportunity as many departments are severely understaffed but stations are very close together. Like I said, full consolidation won’t happen because of the problems I listed before but maybe this kind of consolidation will be possible in the future.
#4 by Bill Post on August 13, 2020 - 11:21 PM
Jim you are right. In fact there are several groups of suburbs in the Chicago area where this approach would make perfect sense.
The Phoenix metro area in Arizona is a major metropolitan location where a similar approach is taken. Each department maintains their own identity and management however they dispatch as if it were one large department. Each is part of an automatic aid system where the nearest apparatus is dispatched to an incident without regard for the jurisdictional boundaries. If for example an incident is in Phoenix but the nearest station is located in Glendale, then Glendale apparatus will be first due on the initial dispatch and also any subsequent extra alarms.
There are a bunch of places in the Chicago area where there is automatic aid. It is still true however that in many areas mutual aid only happens with additional alarms. One area where automatic aid the norm is the border of Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove where apparatus from both towns are dispatched. Additionally, Buffalo Grove Quint 27 usually goes into neighboring Long Grove as they have only one station and no truck. It would make sense if Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Lincolnshire/Riverwoods, and Wheeling were one department. There are many locations where one town’s station is closer than the jurisdiction where an incident occurs.
#5 by Jim on August 13, 2020 - 6:16 PM
What I like about what both districts did was they continue to be separate organizations which keeps the biggest arguments against Ie: debt, pensions but utilize staffing, apparatus and station locations to the greatest efficiency at this time. Why more organizations don’t do this is beyond me.
#6 by Bill Post on August 13, 2020 - 3:39 PM
Thanks for the information Jim, Daniel and Mabas 21. That consolidation report is exactly what I was looking for. It goes a long way in explaining the logic and reasoning behind the move.
#7 by Tim on August 13, 2020 - 8:51 AM
I worked in that firehouse many moons ago. Cool layout with double drive through bays on each side of the firehouse and the living quarters in the center. We ran 4 out of there most of the time (2 on the ambo 2 on the engine). Engine 390 the American LaFrance with a big Detroit in it had the loudest turbocharger whine I’ve ever heard. The old Belmont FWD was still there as was a Mack CF which I think was former FDNY. And someone correct me if I’m wrong, I think 390 was a sister rig to Lemonts engine 911.
It was strange though as we watched Downers Truck 1 scream by the firehouse a few times a day. The coverage area for that firehouse back then was definitely unique.
#8 by MABAS 21 on August 13, 2020 - 8:30 AM
The residents of this unincorporated area, formerly the Belmont FPD, should just de-annex from the DWFD and incorporate into the Village of Downers Grove, which surrounds it on 3 sides. Downers Station 101 (Squad) and Station 102 (Tower & Medic) are both first due.
Another option, if the residents of the former Belmont FPD area don’t want to incorporate into the Village of Downers Grove because of property taxes, they can divert their FPD funding from the DWFD to Downers Grove.
Downers already covers an unincorporated area to the East and Northeast of Good Sam Hospital and around Midwestern University. This was a paper district that was disbanded in 2014, known as the Fairview FPD. It is now a special service district where an annual fee is collected directly to Downers Grove for fire protection and EMS. See link below:
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2014/02/11/fairview-fire-district-deemed-redundant-to-be-dissolved-by-dupage-county-board/a66uc5x/
#9 by Jim on August 13, 2020 - 6:28 AM
Here is a link to what Daniel is talking about
https://www.lwfd.org/Document%20Center/About/lislewoodridge/final_dw_lw_consol_and_copyright_letter.pdf
#10 by crabbymilton on August 13, 2020 - 6:05 AM
Looks like it would make a nice sizable private home.
#11 by Daniel on August 12, 2020 - 9:11 PM
Station 88 was closed in 2016 as a part of the Darien-Woodridge and Lisle-Woodridge Intergovernmental Agreement. Lisle-Woodridge and Downers Grove both have stations within 2 miles of this station.
Darien-Woodridge still has jurisdiction of the district previously covered by this station, but the district has been split; Lisle-Woodridge Squad 53 first due in the south portion, and Downers Grove Squad 101 in the north portion, which allows them to maintain a 4-6 Minute response time most of the time.
The main benefit to closing this station was allowing better staffing at stations 89 and 90. Darien previously ran a 2-man ladder out of 89 and 2-man engines out of 88 and 90. When the station closed, the 2 people assigned to this station were moved, changing the staffing to a 3-man ladder at 89 and a 3-man engine at 90.
#12 by Bill Post on August 12, 2020 - 8:54 PM
So I am curious to know the story behind this. Was it replaced by a new station, did the district decide to get rid of the station, or did they cede part of their district to another department? I know that the Darien Woodridge FPD had 3 stations; 88, 89, and 90. That’s about all that I know about them.