Historic Wenatchee Fire Station to be Sold

The City of Wenatchee will soon sell the historic former Chelan County Fire District #1 station at 126 South Chelan Avenue.

The station sits on the corner of South Chelan Avenue and Yakima Street.

Executive Services Director Laura Gloria said the building, which was declared surplus through a resolution by the city council Thursday night, has received quite a bit of interest.

"The city no longer needs this building for a public use and (the resolution) allows us to move forward with listing the property, potentially looking at offers and redeveloping the property," said Gloria.

Gloria added that the city is anticipating it will list the property with a local real estate agent.

After a period of about 45 days staff is expected to review offers. Staff will then present some sort of recommendation first to committees within city government and then to the city council itself.

The city would likely enter into a development agreement with a potential buyer to keep the building largely intact. The building is not on the city's historic building registry but is eligible to be added. A building on the registry receives certain tax breaks but the owner must maintain the building's historical look.

Chelan County Fire District #1 moved out of the building last October when the district's new station on North Wenatchee Avenue came online. It is currently being used as a staging area for the remodeling work on City Hall, which is across the street. That work is expected to conclude this year.