The City of Lebanon’s three fire stations and one police station—which also served as a dispatch center—were aging and would soon be insufficient to serve the city’s growing population. In 2019, the City enlisted VHB, as a subconsultant to Lavallee Brensinger Architects, to conduct a feasibility study to identify the best site for a replacement fire station.
VHB assessed sites throughout Lebanon, including that of the existing Fire Department headquarters, to help the City identify which would be suitable for the new station. Ultimately, the City decided to proceed with reconstructing the facility at the site of the existing fire station, which necessitates a temporary home for the Fire Department while the new station is under construction. VHB designed a temporary, simply constructed station at the Lebanon Public Works Department made of modular housing and a prefabricated garage to ease the Fire Department’s transition.
Now under construction, the rebuilt fire station will stand three stories tall and feature four bays for emergency vehicles and equipment. Some of the building’s notable aspects include its sustainability features, such as the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, its net zero building status, stormwater best practices designed by VHB, and minimized impervious area, which reduces impacts to existing slopes and natural landscaped buffer. Due to the station’s downtown location, VHB counseled the City to use existing utility infrastructure to minimize roadwork and therefore the impacts of construction on traffic and pedestrians.
