Station No. 2 celebrates opening

A grand opening ceremony for Siloam Springs Fire Department Station No. 2 set a milestone in the department's long history.

City officials and firefighters celebrated the completion of the $1.75 million renovation to the interior and exterior of the station, located on Mt. Olive Street, on Wednesday with a series of traditions. The event featured a fire hose uncoupling -- a unique take on a ribbon cutting, a pushing-in ceremony where firefighters manually pushed a fire engine into a truck bay as a way to symbolize the station's return to service and tours of the building.

When the station was decommissioned in January, firefighters took down the U.S. Flag and preserved it so that it could be flown when the building re-entered service, said Fire Chief Jeremy Criner. At the conclusion of the grand opening, the flag was raised over the building.

The renovation gave the station a retro-modern look that fits in with the rest of downtown while maintaining tradition, said Deputy Chief John Vanetta. Interior updates include semi-private cubicles for sleeping, restrooms for both male and female firefighters, improvements to the plumbing, heating and air systems, a new diesel exhaust system and a display area in the entryway for the department's first motorized fire truck, which dates back to 1921.

Exterior renovations include an addition to the back of the building for two public restrooms with exterior doors, the demolition of the former parks and recreation building next door to create a parking lot and the addition of green space and a trail connecting City Park to the rest of downtown behind the fire station.

Architect Matt Pearson created the plans for the renovations and C.R. Crawford Construction completed the project.

A Sanborn Fire Insurance map dating back to 1897 provides the earliest documentation of the Siloam Springs Fire Department, which was located in the general vicinity of Station No. 2, Criner said.

"That fire department looked a lot different than it does today," he said. "It was basically a barn with some equipment in it and a bunch of volunteers around the city who would come in and make those incidents and make those emergency calls as needed."

In 1901, the fire department became an official part of the city and in 1915 a three-story building that housed the fire department, police department, jail, library, city offices and hospital was built at the location of Station No. 2, Criner said.

In 1967, the current footprint of the building was constructed on the site, he said. It served as the fire administration headquarters and the city's primary fire station until the current Fire Station No. 1 on Cheri Whitlock Drive was built and occupied in 2002. At that time, the downtown building became Station No. 2.

"Today, in 2019, we are happy to have renovated and expanded and hopefully we will get another 50 years out of this building. ... Everything that went into this is truly historic and this is really a historic day that we need to take an opportunity to recognize and really embrace." Criner said.