From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment in the History of the Evanston Fire Department.
During its most recent inspection of the EFD in 1935, the National Board of Fire Underwriters (NBFU) had recommended that Truck Company 2 be moved from Station #1 to a new Station #2 in South Evanston, which would have space for an aerial ladder truck. They also suggested creating a third truck company in a new Station #3 in North Evanston, also equipped with an aerial ladder truck, and relocating Engine Company 5 from Station #1 to a fifth station near Grant and Central Park in northwest Evanston. Chief Dorband followed these recommendations closely when planning the new stations.
The new Station #2 was built as a two-story, three-bay headquarters station, complete with space for a tractor-drawn aerial ladder truck and EFD administrative offices. It was located on the southwest corner of Madison and Custer, one block west of the old Station #2. The original Station #2 at 750 Chicago Avenue was sold to a private individual and later converted into an automobile dealership, and eventually became a restaurant about twenty years later.
Station #3 was a one-story, three-bay structure, with one bay long enough to eventually accommodate a tractor-drawn aerial ladder truck. It was constructed on a vacant lot owned by the Metropolitan Sanitary District and leased to the City of Evanston. Located on the east side of the North Shore Channel, it was a block west of Evanston Hospital and about a mile from the Northwestern University campus. The site was at the northeast corner of Central Street and what was once Cooper Avenue before the canal was built in 1908. The former Station #3 at 2504 Green Bay Road was sold and turned into a photography studio.
However, the construction of Fire Station #5 proved to be more challenging. Chief Dorband’s plan called for Station #5 to be built on what used to be Bennett Avenue, between Perkins Woods and Lincolnwood Elementary School. Although the section of Bennett Avenue between Grant and Colfax streets had been closed off when Perkins Woods was established as a Cook County Forest Preserve in the 1920s, the city still owned the right-of-way. The first-due area for Station #5 would cover all of northwest Evanston and a large portion of the 5th Ward, including the area north of Church Street and west of the C&NW RR Mayfair Division freight tracks.
Planned as a long, narrow, one-story, one-bay residential-style firehouse set back several hundred feet from the street, the single apparatus bay would be on the south side, with access via Grant Street. The living quarters included a living room, kitchen, dining room, bunk room, bathroom with a shower, a captain’s office, a large storage room, and a watch desk with a radio and telephone, divided by a long hallway. The front entrance and parking area would be on the Colfax Street side, and the station would have an address of 2700 Colfax Street.
Despite this plan, the Lincolnwood School PTA raised concerns, arguing that a fire station so close to the school could endanger children if emergency vehicles were responding while students were arriving or leaving. The city council agreed, but Chief Dorband was upset, noting that the aldermen had previously approved the construction of Fire Station #1 on Lake Street in 1949, even though it was just a half-block from St. Mary’s School.
With the Perkins Woods site ruled out, the city proposed a playground park at the northeast corner of Simpson and Bennett (now Porter Park) as an alternative. It was already city-owned and closer to the 5th Ward than the Grant and Bennett location. However, local residents opposed the idea of replacing their park with a fire station. Plus, the site was nearly two miles away from some areas in the “High Ridge†neighborhood northwest of Crawford and Gross Point Road.
Desperate, the city council looked at a vacant lot at the northwest corner of Central Park Avenue and the south alley of Central Street. It was available at a reasonable price and large enough for a two-bay Chicago FD-style firehouse. But Northminster Presbyterian Church leaders objected, claiming the fire station would disrupt Sunday services, Wednesday evening prayer meetings, and choir practice.
With a voter mandate to build a new fire station in northwest Evanston and the funds to do so, the city reluctantly purchased a lot on the south side of Central Street at Reese Avenue. Though more expensive than desired, the footprint was sufficient for a two-bay firehouse. While it was half a mile further from the 5th Ward than the original Perkins Woods site, it was well-suited to serve northwest Evanston up to Crawford and Old Glenview Road.
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