New La Crosse fire station at UWL scheduled to open in late April

The La Crosse Fire Department hopes to have its newest firehouse up and running by the end of April. 

Construction of the new Fire Station 2 along La Crosse Street began about a year ago, and has continued through the winter.  Assistant fire chief Jeff Murphy says some complications have slowed down construction.

“There’s been some issues with commercial electrical components,” says Murphy. “That slowed us down by a couple of weeks, but those are taken care of now.” Murphy also says a lot of concrete has been poured, but the parking area will still be asphalt, and more winter weather could lead to delays.

The new station at UWL is designed to eventually replace the existing firehouse on Monitor Street, which has been used since the 1950’s.

“We’re gonna leave one of the crews there, because we still have equipment there that we don’t have a place for, and we won’t have that until Station 4 is complete,” Murphy said. The new station 4 will take the place of the current Gillette Street station, which has been designated as a historic site.

The La Crosse Street station next to Coate Hall will be the first new fire house in La Crosse since the late 60’s.