Santa Monica breaks ground on new fire station

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Santa Monica officials have broken ground on a new $29.1 million fire station.

Fire Station No. 1 will be built on 7th Street, just a few blocks away from the station it will replace. The community came out to the old station for a day of arts and crafts with the firefighters, and a chance to climb on one of the fire trucks. Then, there was a community walk down 7th Street to the location of the future station.

It will be a three-story 27,000 square foot building, doubling the current station's size. There will be five bays and underground parking. More than a decade ago, a study found Santa Monica's old 1955 fire hall could buckle in an earthquake.

The study said a retrofit for the station wouldn't have been sufficient. The new station is expected to be completed in early 2020.