The Lake Charles Fire Department is getting a new training and administrative center.

Located at 1017 Sixth Ave., the $16 million facility will centralize LCFD’s administration, fire prevention, planning, communications and training departments into one building, said LCFD Chief Delton Carter.

In 2020, Hurricanes Laura and Delta destroyed LCFD’s old training facility that was located on Gulf Highway near McNeese State University’s baseball field. Their goal was to find a location that was centrally located in the city and large enough to consolidate LCFD’s support resources into one area.

“My office is on Kirkman Street. Prevention is at City Hall. Planning is on Sycamore. Communication is on Hodges,” he said. “So now, we’re just trying to centrally locate everybody to better serve and support the fire department.”

Statewide, fire services are struggling to recruit and retain firefighters, but this facility should help bolster training and replenish the fire service workforce in Calcasieu Parish.

“Being centrally located, and Lake Charles being the largest city in the parish, we’re able to train other fire departments that don’t have a training division,” he said. “So they’ll be able to come over to train with us, which will allow us the time or the potential to train with all our other counterparts that we work with.”

He noted LCDF also intends to start a high school firefighter program after the facility is built.

Councilmember Rodney Geyen, District C, said the center will be a boon for those who live in his district.

“It’s going to be able to be a service the people of the community,” he said. “If you have any questions … all of the answers will be there.”

He said he is happy to see this building go up in District C, an area of Lake Charles that is “growing.” The new building is being established in an area that is seeing an influx of investment. The senior living community Capstone of the Oaks is being built nearby, and Anita Drive Park is under construction.

Ninety percent of the funding is coming from FEMA, Carter said.

The city contributed $5 million, and the rest of the funding is from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grant funds, said City Administrator John Cardone.

The project is anticipated to break ground by the end of the year. Construction should take about 15 months.