Jun. 29—Members of the Newport Beach City Council could officially check the construction of a new firehouse off of their to- do list Tuesday as members of the public were given their first look at Peninsula Station No. 2.
Ground broke for the firehouse in January 2021. City staff said construction was completed about 17 months later.
The new fire station is located near Lido Isle and replaces the fire station on 32nd Street, which was built in 1952.
At previous meetings discussing the project, city staff said the old station outlived its useful life in 2014 and required frequent repair. The new station is 11, 649 square feet, about 1, 900 square feet larger than the previous station.
The cost of the project was estimated to be somewhere around $9.1 million, which included project design, construction, incidentals, an alerting system, a new traffic signal and a design contingency. Construction costs were pegged at $6.7 million.
The city in 2018 spent $4 million on the property, which used to be a McDonald 's.
Officials said at the time that new location is larger and will provide better access to residential areas than the old station.
City spokesman John Pope said the old fire station will cease operations once firefighters relocate into the new building. That is expected to occur sometime in the next two weeks.
"Eight will be on duty at the new station every day : three on the ladder truck, three on the fire engine and two on the paramedic ambulance, " said Pope. "We have three different shifts, so 24 total firefighters will move into the new station."
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