The City of Bloomington and Bloomington Fire Department celebrated the grand opening of the new operations center.

The facility was the fourth project in a $34 million public safety investment plan created by the Bloomington City Council in 2022. The first three were the renovation of Stations 1 and 3, and the moving of administrative officers to Shower West.

The facility includes a new docking garage, recruit and team meeting rooms, gym, and updated locker rooms for crews. The money from the grant also included spare equipment and ladder trucks for the station.

“The chance to open up this building that we've got here that has been a long time coming,” Bloomington Fire Chief Roger Kerr said. “Pretty excited just to have the chance to get all of our stuff and all of our equipment under one roof and so it's pretty neat.”

The Bloomington Fire Department partners with the Monroe Fire Department to train recruits. This facility will be a large part of where their training will take place, and it was built with that in mind.

There are large classrooms for recruit classes, which range from eight to 15 recruits, and the facility was built next to the training towers and in proximity to truck engines. This will allow recruits to get hands-on experience quicker than before.

Mayor Kerry Thomson reflected on the dedication that carried this project through 3½ years of work, and on the department’s dedication to the community it serves. Last year, Bloomington firefighters logged more than 48,000 hours of training.

“That commitment deserves facilities that support it,” Thomson said. “Just as importantly, we've incorporated here modern health and safety measures to better protect our firefighters from the risks that they encounter in the line of duty. And because our firefighters show up for Bloomington every day, our responsibility as a city is to show up for them as well.”