It’s been needed for a long time

SOLON — The Solon Tri-Township Fire Department began operating out of their new station in December and hosted their annual pancake breakfast during the Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday, June 11, they opened the doors to the community again, this time for an open house and dedication ceremony.
The new eight-bay facility replaces the fire station in downtown Solon, which had become crowded with trucks and equipment, making it difficult for the volunteer firefighters to operate efficiently and safely.
During the open house firefighters led over 400 people through the building pointing out features such as offices for the command staff, a meeting and training room, bedrooms for firefighters to stay overnight at the station (reducing the time needed to get trucks out the door and on the way to an emergency, a dedicated radio room with space for writing reports to document the department’s responses, and a kitchen and day room as well as other amenities to make the firehouse a home for the firefighters. Also included is a tornado safe room, which is available to the public in times of severe weather.
“It’s great. This is their building,” Fire Chief Bob Siddell said as the public began filling the apparatus bay and forming small groups for tours. “They built it with their money, whether it was private or public money, it was their money and it’s great and fantastic to see these people come out and enjoy this new facility.”
Chief Siddell noted due to a number of factors, construction and moving in were at least five months behind schedule. The department was granted a certificate of occupancy in early December and on Saturday, Dec. 10, the trucks, firefighters’ turnout gear, and other necessities were moved to the new station. Since then, other items have been moved over, and a few things are still being stored in the old station. The Chief said with the recent completion of a storage shed at the new location, those few remaining items will move soon while the City of Solon ponders potential future uses for either the building itself or the land it sits on.
“It’s been needed for a long time,” the Chief said. “(We’re) just absolutely overjoyed to be in here, it’s been about a five-year process for us from the beginning when we started with the Agency (The Solon Tri-Township Emergency Response Agency — the trustees who oversee the all-volunteer department), purchasing this land, putting in all the work to design this building, coming up with what we thought was needed for the community and the fire department, and we’re glad to finally see it all come to an end and for us to be able to do great things for the community through the building.”
One hurdle to be overcome was financing the new station. City Administrator Cami Rasmussen worked out a plan to use local option sales tax revenue to fund the city’s portion. The city contracts with Tri-Township for fire protection. In addition, a massive fundraising effort was launched with the Chief tasking the department’s Treasurer, Firefighter Greg Morris, with spearheading it. Morris has had previous fundraising experience, but soon realized the enormity of the project ahead.
“I’m lucky that Bob (Chief Siddell) asked me to help to kind-of lead the (fundraising) charge, and mentally…you just worked on it every day. Something struck my interest daily. Absolutely daily. And we worked hard at it, really, really hard at it,” Morris said. And the effort paid off, literally, as donations were received from over half of Iowa’s 99 counties, and beyond. “We’re pretty close to 30 states, and seven countries. I think that is what got my attention more than anything else,” said Morris. “As big as the challenge was and, in some ways, still is, I enjoyed it. I think a lot of people would say you’re nuts, and that’s OK, but to have the understanding at the end of the day where we need to get. That, seriously, is what motivated me daily.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted all aspects of life, especially impacted the department’s fundraising efforts. “I truly believe if we hadn’t had to deal with COVID, we would’ve raised the whole thing. Right when COVID hit, we had a half-a-dozen things planned. All in-person things, but you couldn’t do it.” However, and to Morris’ amazement, donations kept coming in with an average of $2-4,000 per week arriving in the mail. One thing he discovered was the allure of postal mail, and the affect receiving a letter in the mail has. “People of all ages love to get U.S. Mail. I cannot tell you how many people gave, and then gave again because they got a hand-written note from me.”
The department also received help from outside sources, such as the fourth grade class at the Solon Intermediate School, who raised over $1,000 by making and selling blankets, and Reagan Helle, who sold rubber bracelets in 2019 while a senior at the Solon High School, to name a few. Then there were businesses who allowed the firefighters to place boots for donations and local business owners who provided services as an in-kind donation. One business contributor was Brad Cahoon of Cahoon Sales, an electrical utility supply company in Iowa City.
“I grew up in the Solon Fire District and am just happy to be able to do what I can do to help out. It’s an incredible facility compared to where they were, which wasn’t a bad facility, they just outgrew it. It’s a worthy cause, and I’ve got a lot of admiration for the guys who do this,” Cahoon said.
With the fundraising completed, and the thank-you notes all sent, Morris has a new task: finalizing a list of all donors for a large, professionally produced display to be mounted on the wall in the main hallway near the public entrance.
And, with only a few final touches left to complete, “It’s back to business as usual,” Chief Siddell said. “We’re going to get back to doing what we love to do, and that’s to provide a service to the community.”
The Chief expressed his gratitude to, “everybody who helped to make this a reality. Words don’t express it enough. From the bottom of our hearts, we’re very thankful and grateful that we’ve had, and continue to have, such great community support. We’re very blessed.”