Above is a Google Maps view of the building that was the Silver Lake Rescue Squad station in Silver Lake, which is slated to become Salem Lakes Fire Station No. 4
The Salem Lakes Village Board on Tuesday approved spending $54,327 to upgrade a new home for Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue Station No. 4 in Silver Lake.
Currently, the department uses the old Silver Lake Fire Department Station — adjacent to the old Silver Lake Village Hall — as Station No. 4.
However, the village is pursuing renting the former village hall and fire station. The fire department equipment housed in the fire department part of the building is slated to move to the old Silver Lake Rescue Squad building located just west of the railroad tracks from the SLFD/SL village hall building.
Fire Chief Alan Carr said the project actually was decreased in cost from the original budget by eliminating some aspects. The original cost was $88,000.
The revised project will include the installation of rear overhead doors large enough to allow drive-through apparatus access, which provides a significant improvement to firefighter safety and operational flow, Carr said in an email message to westofthei.com
Reconfigured sleeping quarters, interior repainting, new ceiling tiles, and bathroom and shower updates are planned to occur at a later phase, Carr said.
Part of Monday’s action was to add some cost to accommodate the construction of ADA access to the building. That is needed because the building also will be used as a polling place for some elections, as the old village hall building was used at times in the past.
“Overall, the approved scope allows the department to return the station to operational status in a relatively short timeframe while positioning it for future interior upgrades as funding allows,” Carr said.
The work will be performed by Scherrer Construction.
In 2017, the town of Salem and the village of Silver Lake merged to create the village of Silver Lake. The new village uses the former Town Hall in Salem as its village hall, but Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue continued to use the old fire department building as its Station No. 4.
Silver Lake Rescue Squad ceased operations in 2018. The town of Salem leased the building to the squad and retained ownership of the property after the squad dissolved.
The move to the old rescue building would place one Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue station west of the Canadian National Railway tracks, Trustee Dennis Faber pointed out at the meeting. Currently the three active stations are all east of the tracks.
