Newport Beach city officials break ground on new Fire Station No. 2 after years of planning

Newport Beach City Council members broke ground Tuesday on what will be the site of the city’s new Fire Station No. 2 — a plan that has been on Newport Beach’s wish list for several years.

The new structure on the corner of 28th Street and Newport Boulevard will replace the Lido Fire Station No. 2 on 32nd Street — built in 1953 — which city officials determined in 2014 had “exceeded its useful life,” according to a Nov. 10 staff report.

Instead of demolishing the current station and building a new structure on site, the city purchased a 17,693-square-foot property at 2807 Newport Boulevard in Jan. 2018 and decided to keep the Lido Station operable in the interim.

The former site of a McDonald’s restaurant, the new location is larger and will provide better access to more residential areas than the old station, fire officials said in a presentation to the city.

Council members in November accepted a $6,289,000 bid for the work from Rialto-based Robert Clapper Construction Services, Inc., eventually signing a not-to-exceed contract of $10 million.

Having recently issued a notice to proceed to the contractor, work is anticipated to begin soon after Tuesday’s ceremony. City officials are estimating the new station could be up and running by spring 2022.

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