Ann Arbor broke ground Tuesday morning on its new fire station, the first net-zero station to be built in the state.
The chilly temperatures were not a deterrent as officials and some retired firefighters were on hand to begin the replacement of old Station 4. The new station will include geothermal heating and cooling and solar panels.
Office of Sustainability and Innovations Director Missy Stults says it’s also Ann Arbor’s first carbon-neutral city building.
“Our city, at least, doesn’t build a lot of new buildings, right, so the building we’re replacing here is decades old. So, this sets a pretty important precedent for what it looks like to build new buildings that align with our values on the front end, as opposed to having to retrofit them on the back.”
The new station will be named after Mindy Kerr, Ann Arbor’s first female firefighter, who was once assigned to old Station 4.
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