“We’re making an investment in the future, a structure that will last 40 to 50 years from now,” said Bob Bronson, chairman of the Harrisburg Fire & Rescue District Board of Directions and a former volunteer firefighter.

The district’s existing concrete slab fire station, 500 Smith St., was built in 1964, and two additions have brought it to 7,500 square feet.

The building is cramped, doesn’t have enough room to store all of the agency’s rigs and doesn’t have sleeping quarters for volunteer firefighters. There also is only one bathroom and no private shower in the event of contamination.

“We’re out of room and just tripping over each other. … We’ve got things packed into every corner,” Bronson said.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the station would likely collapse during a significant earthquake, Bronson said.

The new fire station would be nearly 14,000 square feet and sit just west of the current facility, on land the city owns.

The building would include four sleeper rooms for volunteers, solar panels required by an Oregon alternative energy law and more.