Since the early 1900’s, the Grand Rapids Fire Department has trained at its stations, and in buildings and classrooms pieced together across the city as needed.
Now, a $46 million investment will redefine public safety and emergency preparedness in the region, says Fire Chief Brad Brown.
“So not only for the city of Grand Rapids, but for the surrounding communities as well. This space will allow us to run a recruit class, in-service training, college classes, cadet programs, and community emergency response team programs all at the same time and right now we simply don't have that capacity.”
The new 9-acre site on Pannell Road NW will house state-of-the-art training classrooms, maintenance areas and a new Emergency Operations Center.
There will also be a five-story burn building.
“The biggest thing for us was square foot. We just needed more space, so this is going to be just over 97,000 ft.² and it has four classrooms with movable walls. It also has a huge training bay. It has a cafeteria. It has multiple conference rooms. There's a lot of flex space in here too because we may think we know what the future is going to hold, but we don't and so this building footprint is big enough to allow us to grow into the future over the next 50-75 years with the city. “
The project is funded by city, state and federal dollars.
The facility is expected to open Spring of 2027.
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