Demolition crews were tasked Tuesday, Sept. 24 with demolishing what’s left of Goshen Township Station 18, local12.com reported. The demolition will make way for a new facility that will go up in its place.
The station stood for 40 years before it took a direct hit from a tornado in July 2022.
“Today was a bittersweet day for Local 3932 members as we said goodbye to 40 years of memories,” Goshen Township Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 3932 said in a Facebook post. “In a matter of hours, Station 18, which took a direct hit from a tornado in July of 2022, was reduced to several piles of rubble. The last remaining member of the original ‘6 pack’, Unit 2 Captain Robert Rose, was given the honor of taking the first swing at the building, marking the start of the demolition. In just 400 days, we will hopefully be opening a brand new, state of the art Station 18 which will boast several integrated training props to aid in on site training of our members, as well as many updated features which will hopefully reduce job related illness. Local 3932 is excited to finally see forward progress and excited for what the future holds.”
In May, the trustees approved a contract with Conger Construction for the demolition and rebuilding of Station 18, the union said in a May Facebook post.
“In the next few months we will start to see a lot of activity on the site. We are close to finalizing the plans. Once these are complete we will release the architects rendering of the overall building design and floor plan. They are estimating that it will take 349 days to construct the new station from the day we break ground. We would like to thank our citizens and our elected officials for your support during this process.”
The Goshen Township Fire & Ems Station 18 made the following post on its Facebook page in August:
Concept drawing of the new Station 18 to be built on the same site as our previous fire/EMS station at 1849 SR 28. The station should be completed by the fall of 2025.
The project is being funded by insurance and state funding from EMA disaster recovery funds as well as the state capitol budget. No levy funds or levy increase will be required to build this new facility for Goshen Township it is 100% insurance and state funding.
There is an operating levy for Fire/EMS on the ballot in November, this is our normal 5-year levy for day to day operations like utilities, fuel, equipment, medical supplies and salaries. Information about the upcoming levy can be found at Goshen Fire and EMS 2024 Levy
GTF&E continues to operate two fire/EMS stations including a temporary firehouse on Walnut Street and our station on Oakland Road near SR 28.
