It's Moving Week for the Plainfield Fire District

This time next week, the should just about be moved into its new administration/training center on 135th Street near Route 59, Deputy Chief Jon Stratton said.

The move has been under way for several days as the department packs up section by section to relocate out of its old downtown digs at 15025 S. Des Plaines St. It's not possible to shut down the station completely so the move is being done in incremental stages to keep the district functioning, Stratton said.

Not helping the process is the heat wave -- this is one of the hottest weeks on record in at least 10 years, he said.

The district has hired a moving company, but employees are still responsible for packing up boxes in preparation for the move, he said.

"Yeah, it's been hard," Stratton said. "It's been really hot."

But likely not as hard as working in the cramped space in an administration building that outgrew its capacity many years ago.

Construction on the new $16 million center, a 14,000-square-foot building of stone and glass, began in spring 2010 and was to be finished by spring 2011. Days of rainy weather coupled with a construction worker strike last summer, however, pushed the to summer 2011.

On the same site is a new 14,500-square-foot fire station No. 2, built to replace an out-of-date fire house that now sits behind it.

Firefighters moved into the new building a few months ago, Stratton said, but work continues to modify the old station so it can be used to store reserve apparatus, EMS supplies, mechanical equipment and other items.

The new firehouse was desperately needed, Chief John Eichelberger said last year, because the old one was never meant to house firefighters.

Up until 2003, the department used volunteer firefighters. When the switch was made to an employee staff, the building had to be remodeled to create sleeping and living quarters, he said.

Stratton said the game plan now is to have all of the construction finished so an open house can be held for the public to tour the new facilities. No date has been scheduled.

Meanwhile, the downtown administration building that's being vacated will be sold, he said. They're received no offers thus far.

Voters approved a tax hike to fund department construction projects in 2004, and Eichelberger has said the district was able to take advantage of the recession to secure good contract bids.

The 36-year-old, 55-square-mile district currently has four fire stations, and owns land to build two more on the village's west side. Plans to build those stations, however, have been put on hold because the town's growth has slowed so significantly.