Madelia says goodbye to historic fire station

MADELIA, Minn. (KEYC) -For over one hundred years, the Madelia Fire Department, Police Department and City Hall have called the same Main Street building home.

A new building has been in the works for quite some time, and the city hopes to be operating within the new space in less than a month.

The original building was built in 1916, and considering the history and importance of the old facility, the departments invited the community to join them Monday in saying goodbye to the old city headquarters.

“The thing I’m looking forward to is the younger kids coming in to see the fire trucks,” said Mark Slater of the Madelia Police Department. “Obviously, youths are always excited by fire trucks and stuff like that, but then to maybe hopefully recruit them for when we’re getting ready to retire.”

Community members were invited to tour the building one final time, and see the history etched into the walls, from the various extensions built to house more trucks to the basement ramp that once held the department’s horses.

The fire department said that the upgrade in facilities is long overdue, but that they’re sad to move out of their longtime home.

“You know there’s lots of memories a lot of people have in this space,” said Madelia Fire Chief Ryan Visher. “You have to think that some people spent 20, 30, some cases 38 years, on the fire department, and so they spent a lot of time and put a lot of energy, have a lot of memories, good and bad, in this fire hall. And it’s important that we allow them to come back in and say goodbye to it.”

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