Stewartville Fire open house - KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports

STEWARTVILLE, Minn. (KTTC) -- The Stewartville Fire and Rescue held an open house Thursday to drum up support for a new fire hall.

Firefighters say it's time to replace the structure, originally built in 1968, and it is more cost effective to rebuild than to fix the many structural problems.

They also say the building wasn't originally built as a firehouse, so housing some of the equipment is difficult.

They say they are holding the open house so that when Stewartville residents have the chance to vote on the issue, they have a better understanding on what they are voting on.

"The building itself is deteriorating," said Assistant Fire Chief Vance Swisher. "It's starting to collapse. Electrical systems are overloading. Plumbing and HVA systems are getting ready to fail just due to age. So it's really the natural time to look at the fire station and decide 'Do we repair what we have or do we build new?'"

The vote on the fire hall takes place on March 5.