LEBANON — Work on the new $22.6 million downtown Lebanon fire station is on schedule and on budget, Lebanon Fire Chief Jim Wheatley said Wednesday.

Foundations were poured and the structural steel on the station’s exterior erected over the winter, and a crew from ReArch Co. is on site to pour concrete for the building’s three floors.

The project is necessary because the existing downtown station, also known as Central Fire Station or Station 1, was built in 1954 and did not comply with modern industry standards or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A 2019 study of the city’s public safety buildings found that both city fire stations — including the West Lebanon station on Main Street — lacked space to properly maintain and store firefighter equipment.

The facilities also did not protect the firefighters’ living quarters from vehicle fumes that come up from the apparatus floor and lack an isolated decontamination area to safely clean firefighter clothing and equipment of carcinogenic substances that are brought into the station.

In addition to the downtown project, the department also hopes to build a new fire station in West Lebanon, but that project has been delayed for several years due to costs.

City administrators also need to find a new property for the West Lebanon fire station because the existing lot is too small to accommodate an expansion.

The Lebanon Fire Department crew that is currently based in a temporary facility on Dartmouth College Highway are expected to move into the new Central Station in February 2026.