Focusing on the improved energy efficiency and functionality of its newly remodeled headquarters at 120 N.W. Ash Drive, the Ankeny Fire Department last Saturday publicly dedicated the building’s 15,000-square-foot addition.

The nearly $5 million project, funded through the issuance of general obligation bonds, includes a new lobby, fitness center, training facility, living quarters, administrative offices and state-of-the-art emergency operations center (EOC). An emergency medical services lab, fire museum and official library are also part of the remodeled facility, which was built with long-term expansion plans in mind, said Fire Chief Rex Mundt.

“This building is as green as we can afford it to be,” Mundt said as he led a tour of the 33,000-square-foot facility, referring to its phased lighting and geothermal heating. “We try every way we can to cut the costs.”

The building’s energy-efficient design earned the city a $62,000 rebate from MidAmerican Energy Co., according to James Spradling, assistant city manager.

Dozens of Ankeny residents attended the formal ceremony, which included the housing of “Old 400,” a restored version of the city’s first fire truck, in the fire museum.

Firefighters moved into the station, which serves as the backup EOC for Polk County, last July. SVPA Architects Inc. designed the facility’s update, which Ankeny residents voted to finance in 2006. Construction began in 2007.

The city’s second fire station, under construction on Southeast Oralabor Road, is about 50 percent complete and is scheduled to open this fall, Spradling said.

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