The City of Le Mars, Iowa has purchased ground to build a new fire station. City officials say the city’s second fire station has outgrown its space, making it difficult for firefighters to pull trucks onto a residential street.
While the land deal is done, we spoke with the fire chief, who says the financing and timing for construction of the new station is still up in the air.
Last month, the Le Mars City Council approved $200,000 of American Rescue Plan funds towards the purchase of a piece of property on 12th street. An anonymous donor provided another $150,000, and the city officially purchased the land with plans to build a new fire station.
“Well, in that location with station two with parking and everything else, it just wasn’t going to be feasible. So our goal then was to find some ground without hopefully having to buy something to tear something down,” said David Schipper, the Le Mars fire chief.