Ann Arbor opens Fire Station 4 on the southeast side, the city’s first new fire station since 1981

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ann Arbor firefighters have moved into the city’s first new fire station in more than four decades, putting a crew back on the southeast side at the rebuilt Fire Station 4 at Huron Parkway and Platt Road.

The Ann Arbor Fire Department announced Friday on social media that Engine 1-4 had moved into the building after it received a temporary certificate of occupancy, MLive reported. The department called it the city’s first new station since 1981 and credited the mayor and City Council for backing the project.

The new building replaces an outdated station that stood on the same site since 1966, CBS Detroit reported in August.

Faster help on the southeast side. Fire Chief Mike Kennedy told WEMU in August that he expected response times on the southeast side to improve once the station opened, and that the crew temporarily working out of downtown would move back. He said the building was planned to handle decades of growth. “This station was not designed for 2026,” Kennedy said. “It was really designed for 2066 and 2086.”

A net-zero design. The city bills Station 4 as the first net-zero fire station in Michigan, powered by solar and geothermal energy, CBS Detroit reported. Kennedy told the station that the building also gives firefighters private sleeping and bathroom space, unlike the old station, which was built before Ann Arbor had women on its fire crews.

What it cost, and what’s next. A 24-foot sculpture of decommissioned fire ladders twisted into a flame, “Three Ladder Fire” by Alabama artist Christopher Fennell, is scheduled to be installed at the station. MLive reported that the $75,000 artwork was paid for out of the station’s construction budget, part of the city’s push to build public art into civic projects. Kennedy has said two more Ann Arbor fire stations need to be replaced and that some of Station 4’s design features may carry over to them.

The department has scheduled a grand opening ceremony for 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.

Sources:
MLive, “Ann Arbor opens first new fire station in more than 4 decades,” Oct. 19, 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/10/ann-arbor-opens-first-new-fire-station-in-more-than-4-decades.html
CBS Detroit, “Ann Arbor nearing completion on city’s first new fire station in 45 years,” Aug. 3, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/ann-arbor-first-new-fire-station-since-1981/
WEMU, “Ann Arbor Fire Department’s Station Four enters homestretch in development,” Aug. 20, 2026, https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-08-20/ann-arbor-fire-departments-station-four-enters-homestretch-in-development
MLive, “Old ladders twist into sculpted flame for public art at new Ann Arbor fire station,” Sept. 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/09/old-ladders-twist-into-sculpted-flame-for-public-art-at-new-ann-arbor-fire-station.html
Photo: Dwight Burdette, “Crimson Fire pumper Ann Arbor Fire Department.JPG,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crimson_Fire_pumper_Ann_Arbor_Fire_Department.JPG

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Tags: Ann Arbor Fire Department · Public Safety · Ann Arbor · Fire Station 4