A second fire station is now in Crown Point’s plans.
The Crown Point City Council recently took the first step toward a second fire station, with final approval last week to issue and sell a general obligation bond to fund the project.
The city council will vote at its Dec. 1 meeting to approve the appropriation of the general obligation bond, not to exceed $3.75 million.
The need for a second fire station has been discussed, both publicly and privately, for a number of years, Crown Point Mayor Pete Land said.
Officials can proceed now because there has been an increased commitment from Center Township officials.
“We’ve been talking with Center Township Trustee Paul Bremer over the last year,” Land said.
Now with financing nearly in place, the next step will be to conduct a feasibility study.
Land said although the issue has been discussed at length, there are still a lot of unknowns, including where the station will be located.
He said once specs have been drawn up, the project will be put out for bid.
The cost of the project will be paid for, in part, by Center Township, which already has budgeted costs in its new budget.
The total cost for the project can’t go over $6.3 million.
Part of the process is due diligence, Land said.
There is no hard and fast timetable at this point for when the project will start.
“As long as we focus, we will get it done as soon as we can get it done. Collectively, we have placed a high level on public safety. This exemplifies our commitment to the public,” Land said.
The city’s original fire station was built at what is now the Crown Point mayor’s office in 1873.
The fire and police station has been at its current location, 126 N. East St., since January 1991, and has had lots of remodeling and upgrades.
Crown Point has been fortunate that it hasn’t had to add a second fire station before this point because it hasn’t had a railroad track running through it for a number of years, Crown Point Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Cusack said.
Other nearby communities, like Griffith and Merrillville, have always needed more than one fire station because of railroad tracks that cut across town and make it necessary to get emergency services to all parts of town.
The addition of another fire station is now needed to serve a growing population and increased calls, Cusack said.
Calls have tripled in the last 25 years.
Incidents have gone from 2,144 in 2000 to a projected 6,603 in 2025, according to statistics compiled by the fire department.
Fortunately, the Crown Point Fire Department has been able to keep pace with demand for hiring and keeping firefighters and EMTs, but is running out of space at the current department, which has no room to grow, Cusack said.
The department currently has 48 full-time firefighters/paramedics among three shifts.
There are also four fire administrators for a complete staff of 52.
“And not only are we out of space, but as the city expands further and further away, it limits our ability to get to places,” Cusack said.
Cusack said 75% of the calls are for EMS, including ambulance calls and car crashes, with the remaining calls being fire alarms or handling of hazardous materials.
Calls at the station continue to increase every year, even during COVID.
“Our area has not changed; our population has increased,” he said.
One of the reasons for the increased 911 calls is that many people who used to go to their physicians during an emergency now call 911.
“As the city has grown, the population and the way society uses 911 has increased,” he said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
