RATHDRUM - Construction on Northern Lakes Fire Protection District's new 10,000-square-foot station in Rathdrum will start today next to the existing facility on Highway 53 across from the post office.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 10 a.m. The public is invited.

Ginno Construction will start construction on the $2 million station afterward. The goal is to have the building complete by December.

Federal stimulus grant funds and Northern Lakes will each pay for half of the project.

Funding for Northern Lakes' portion has been budgeted as a capital improvement item since 2004 and required no additional taxes.

"Without the (grant) and the land donation from BNSF, it would have taken over 10 years to fund a new fire station," said Larry Clark, Northern Lakes fire commissioner. "Because of the grant and donation of land, the actual cost to Northern Lakes taxpayers was just 35 cents for every dollar spent."

The station, designed by Architects West of Coeur d'Alene, will be built on 4.38 acres donated by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) in 2008.

The existing station has many safety hazards identified by Criterium-Pffaf Engineers and Emergency Services Consulting Inc.

The new station will replace the existing one that was built in the 1970s as a pole barn for volunteer firefighters and later expanded over the years to allow housing of five crew members full time. The existing station will be used as storage after the new one is built.

Northern Lakes was awarded the grant from 6,025 applicants nationwide last year along with two other fire departments in Idaho; 120 grants were awarded nationwide.

Northern Lakes covers 108 square miles, including Rathdrum, Hayden and Hayden Lake, and serves 33,256 citizens.