News Flash

This year certainly has been a challenging one for us all due to COVID. However, a truly great accomplishment for Shorewood this year has been the construction and remodeling of Fire Station 83.

Construction was completed in October. North Shore Fire / Rescue (NSFD) was successfully able to work with the Village and contractors to preserve the historic facade of the building while renovating the interior to provide the necessary space and features for NSFD personnel. Residents and community members can enjoy seeing the trucks and vehicles from the roadway or sidewalk through the glass doors. While no tours are being given at the current time due to COVID, NSFD put together the below virtual tour so community members can view the building in its completion. Click the below video to watch the virtual tour.

NSFD and the Village is proud to announce that the solar panel installation on the roof of the fire station was a success, too. NSFD initially estimates a payback period of 10.8 years through the energy savings. While NSFD originally estimated a 41% savings on electric costs from the solar infrastructure, the first month of operation experienced a 54% reduction. Hopefully this trend can continue to not only save costs on electricity but serve as another success story to inspire others to install renewable energy infrastructure. The expected lifespan of the solar infrastructure is 30 years for the panels and 15 years for the inverters.

Thank you to all the community members who helped in some way with this project. Our Village Board members spent hours listening and reading resident feedback prior to construction. President Rozek, who serves on the NSFD Board, was able to communicate that feedback directly with NSFD to assure a construction plan incorporated preserving the historic facade, restoring the building to improve functionality, and including renewable energy infrastructure that would decrease future ongoing costs with the building. This was an outstanding community effort! If you have any questions related to the building, please contact Fire Chief Robert Whitaker at rwhitaker@nsfire.org or call him at 414.357.0113.