As part of their Senior Design Capstone course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students provided a structural evaluation, feasibility study, and restoration alternative plans with cost estimates for a historic fire station in Mason City.
Engine #2 Fire Station was built in Mason City in 1939 and was utilized by the Fire Department until 1972, at which time the department’s operation was moved to their current location and expanded. Community representatives have expressed a desire over the past fifteen or twenty years to restore the vacant structure and re-open it as a museum or possibly as office space. This project encompassed a start to finish process concluding with alternate methods and stages of restoration and budget cost estimates for each. The project included a structural analysis followed with a feasibility study and subsequent report to support decision-making about how to move forward with restoration alternative plans.