By Olivia Mitchell
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Safety officials unveiled a new fire station Thursday in the Kinsman neighborhood that’s designed to be much more than an emergency response facility.
The state-of-the-art Fire Station 26, located at 9026 Kinsman Road, combines the operations of former stations 41 and 26 and represents a shift in how the city views the role of first responder buildings in neighborhoods, officials said.
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“This is a home for the community,” said Cleveland Fire Chief Anthony Luke. “This is a safe place where you can come to get help, to get information or any other needs that you have.”
The new facility also includes a dedicated space for community engagement. The building has a community room that could be used for events, Luke noted, highlighting the facility’s public accessibility.
Luke described Mayor Justin Bibb as the “primary architect” of getting the project done.
While then-Mayor Frank Jackson initiated the project and the city broke ground in October 2022, Mayor Bibb presided over the station’s completion.
“They’re not just places for the men and women of fire and EMS to come and get rest and wait for the next 911 call, but they are truly a hub for our community,” Bibb said.
“It’s a hub for safety, hub for resources, but especially on Kinsman Road on the southeast side, hub for promise, hope and opportunity, as well.”
The project represents a collaborative effort that involved two city administrations, City Council, local unions and community groups, such as the Vanguards, a group supporting Black firefighters.
Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin praised the facility as “part of the renaissance” of the neighborhood.
“When you build these kinds of anchors in our community, it gives pride to young men and women as they walk by these areas, and they say one day that they can be a firefighter, a paramedic or that they can be an EMS officer,” Griffin said.
Griffin also hopes the new station’s location will improve response times to allow safety workers to arrive at 911 calls quicker.
The project also includes plans for the old Station 26 to be used as a community hub for residents, Bibb stated. The city plans to dedicate the old building to the Vanguards and fire department to maintain its historical significance, as the former station was built in 1898.
Myra Simmons has been a resident of Cleveland’s Ward 6 since 1968. She also serves as a precinct committee member. She was excited when Bibb handed her the scissors to do the honors of cutting the ribbon at the ceremony.
City officials view the new station as potentially setting a standard for future public safety facilities. Councilman Michael Polensek, the chairman of Cthe ity Council’s Public Safety Committee, toured the new firehouse before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
He said he was impressed, as he called the building “the prototype which we hope will be magnified and utilized throughout the city as it pertains to the other locations where we have to replace warehouses.”
The opening comes as part of a broader initiative to improve first responder facilities citywide. Polensek noted that the city recently passed legislation allocating $21 million to rebuild the city’s five police districts.
“One of the things that we are committed to, not only in the Department of Public Safety, but with the mayor’s administration, is to make sure that our firefighters and EMS personnel have a safe, warm and cool environment which they can work out of,” Safety Director Wayne Drummond said during the ceremony.
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