In March 2019, the voluntary fire department station in the Village of White Lake collapsed under the heavy weight of snow from a large storm event. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, but the building was destroyed, prompting the small village of 423 to pursue a replacement.

In May of 2019, MSA was asked to assist the Village with a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) – Public Facilities grant application, and in July 2019, received notice of a successful $1-million award. This funding, paired with insurance dollars from the prior fire station’s collapse, covered a great majority of the $1.7-million project.

MSA was hired to evaluate a new site within the community, with plans to design and build a new facility to meet budget and future expansion needs. MSA contributed a full suite of services for this project including funding acquisition, site civil, survey, stormwater, heating, plumbing, electrical, structural and architectural work. Architects began with a review and inventory of necessary equipment, followed by interviews with firefighters and a space-needs exercise that helped identify the best possible layout and floor plan design.

The result is a new, 9,920-square-foot, slab-on-grade, single-story building—over twice the size of the former station which was constructed in 1996 at approximately 4,600 square feet. The pre-engineered steel frame structure has a standing seam metal roof, metal panel walls with steel skins and polyurethane poured-in-place insulation. It includes a sizeable new training room that can seat up to 27, office space, a laundry room, turn-out gear room, storage mezzanine, and personal and gear shower for volunteers and equipment returning from a fire call. The facility can hold nine fire trucks, easily accessible via large, drive-through bays.

The Village of White Lake broke ground on the new volunteer fire station on July 24, 2020, and celebrated the facility’s grand opening on September, 11, 2021, with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony and Fireman’s Picnic.