Mason City council approves repairing historic fire station building on city’s south side

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City last night approved the plans and specifications and set a public hearing date on the re-roofing project for the South Federal Fire Station building. The building used to be a substation for the city’s fire department in serving the southern part of the community.

Mayor Bill Schickel says  it’s good to see the city addressing the need to repair a crumbling roof.   “Some people may not know that building is that 80 years old. It was a Public Works Administration building and it has a lot of architectural significance, and it’s getting old, and the roof was leaking, so I was really happy to see the city council approved to repair the roof on the historic fire station there.”

Schickel says the city hopes to get a national historic designation for the building.  “We have an application to put that building on the National Register of Historic Places. That would join the Park Inn and  about 40 other historically significant buildings in Mason City that have already received that designation. So we look to the future, preserving our past is really equally important.”

Schickel says the building draws interest from people who are architecture enthusiasts.   “ I’ve been told that people going by that when they come into town — you know we think of everybody is visiting the Historic Park Inn and Music Man Square and our MacNider Art Museum and all of our other cultural amenities, but there’s a lot of people that are architecture lovers that stop by to see that particular building.”

  The estimated cost of the project is $71,860. The council will hold a public hearing and consider awarding a bid for the project at their March 3rd meeting.

Schickel made his comments on today’s “Ask the Mayor” program on AM-1300 KGLO. Listen back to the program via the audio player below