NEWPORT BEACH : Ground Broken for Balboa Fire Station
At a vacant lot on Balboa Island, city officials broke ground Tuesday morning for a new fire station, due to open next summer.
The $660,000 station at 124 Marine Ave., complete with a sliding pole, living quarters, a four-faced clock tower and two-engine garage, will replace the 62-year-old station located two blocks from the new site, said Lloyd Dalton, city design engineer.
The new station will sport an early-California look with red-tiled roof, and will be home to nine firefighters who will work rotating eight-hour shifts.
There will also be public restrooms accessible from the street.
The city decided to build a new station because the old one does not meet earthquake safety codes and its garage is so small that a modern fire engine can barely fit in.
To help pay for the new station, the old station and the lot it sits on will be sold by the city.
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