Center Point will open its brand-new fire station this Saturday

Center Point, Iowa – The new $2 million fire station of the Center Point Fire Department is set to be unveiled on Saturday during an open house.

According to Chief Doug Felton, the agency has required a new location for the past few decades. A few blocks away, he continued, the old building was never intended to serve as a fire station and the firefighters dealt with several challenges.

“We had a black mold issue, the roof leaked, and firefighters had to worry about being hit when trucks were leaving,” he said.

Now, everything was housed in one location. According to Chief Felton, the department did host fundraisers, but the majority of the funds came from a $2 million bond issue that the community approved in 2019. Felton claimed that because of supply chain problems and the pandemic, it took years to reach this position.

“There was some heartburn with it, but it was one of those things that we wanted to make sure it was done right,” said Mayor Traer Morgan. “We didn’t want to cut corners just for the sake of time.”

Chief Felton concluded by saying that this new building will better position them to respond if they were now needed for assistance.

“I think we were placed in the city a lot better than what we were,” he said. “We have parking for our people now. We don’t have to crossroads when we get out to go to the call. It’s just a much better location and everything for us.”

I hosted an open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the firehouse close to city hall.