(25 News)-The Peoria City Council will vote Tuesday on building a new fire station in South Peoria while retiring the current station serving that area.
Fire Chief Ed Olehy said the cost for a new firehouse was approved in 2018 and the money has been allocated.
The current station on South Jefferson is well beyond its lifespan and needs to be retired, he said.
A location on Western Avenue has been chosen for the new station – but it needs to be approved by the council.
“We’ve done some run studies on it and we’re well within our time parameters that we like to see,” he said. “Putting us out on Western gives us a better ability to get up the hill to the backside of Bradley without harming any of the responses downtown.”
The nine-person firehouse would take about a year to build.
Olehy said ground could be broken as early as this fall, if approved.
