ARLEE — Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes officials joined together with Arlee Fire District board members for last Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the Arlee Volunteer Fire Department’s new fire hall.

The Tribe essentially donated the one-acre site — valued at more than $60,000 — to the department for a 25-year lease of $1 per year. Tribal spiritual adviser Johnny Arlee blessed the site of the new fire station before Tribal Council members and fire board members dug in the first scoop of dirt with seven golden shovels, marking the momentous event.

“Our Tribal members have benefited from this department for many years, and as Indian people we are in the habit of helping our neighbors and our people,” Tribal Chairman James Steele Jr. said. “There were bumps along the way, but it’s a great privilege to be on the [Tribal] Council at this time and have the chance to see this go through.”

The relocation project that has been in the works for more than five years due to highway reconstruction talks, is now set to commence official digging on Monday and finish in six months. Arlee fire officials worked diligently with the Montana Department of Transportation, which agreed to pay for the new facility with federal highway funds totaling $786,000.

“We’re excited to see everybody pull together for this cause and no words can say thank you enough,” Arlee Fire Board President Susan Black said.

Arlee Assistant Fire Chief Keith Barrows added that his crews look forward to using the new top-of-the-line facility, but may not be able to use the hall on Pow Wow Road until later in the fall months after the planned U.S. Highway 93 construction is complete.

Regardless of when the move in date is, Arlee fire personnel know they’re getting everything they asked for and more with the 6,400 square foot facility.

Barrows explained that because of the economy and stimulus money coming through, his department is getting more of a building than they expected. When plans began, his committee had a rough first estimate of $188,000, but costs shot up to $906,000 in early 2008. Later in November, the committee cut its bid down to $599,000, but when the stimulus money looked to pass they were told they could have some of the extra money originally planned for.

This means the fire hall will be equipped with a 20,000 gallon buried water tank to help combat wildfires, an extra two truck bays, in-floor radiant heating, and a propane generator.

“It’s going to be a top notch facility and they deserve this,” Barrows said.

Barrows said his department has up to 25 volunteers at a time. In 2008 his crews made 245 run calls — 80 percent of which were medical calls. With the high need for medical EMTs in his district, Barrows said his personnel all put in endless hours to become trained emergency technicians.

“These calls are commonly in the middle of the night and that’s a lot of commitment for volunteers to get out in the blowing snow this time of year, so they’re really what it’s all about,” Barrows said.

The assistant chief applauded and showed gratitude to the Tribal Council for their huge effort in allotting the land for the station as well as other Arlee community projects.

“With our budget it has been real tough to be able to purchase any land, and we knew we wanted to have a central location to remain an integral part of the town.”

Barrows added that the Tribe has big plans for the area near the new hall — from the new community center down the street to housing complexes, from biking trails to commercial zones.

“Arlee is really starting to be a completely rebuilt town here,” Barrows said.

Chartered in 1952, the Arlee Volunteer Fire Department has resided at its current location — which was previously the town’s jail — for 56 years.