Lincoln Fire and Rescue is tearing down one of its original training towers after more than 60 years of use. The tower near 3rd and South Streets was built in 1964 and has deteriorated over the years due to Nebraska weather. LFR Battalion Chief Mark Majors, who oversees the department’s training division, says parts of the exterior block and grout have begun to fail.
“It just really created a situation where we haven’t been able to use it like myself and many others on the job. We all used it when we first got hired on.” Majors says the tower was taken out of service in 2024 after firefighters noticed pieces of rock and block falling to the ground.
“We just looked at it from a safety standpoint. If we were finding pieces of rock or pieces of block down on the ground, we just really didn’t feel safe training in and around it.”
The old tower will be completely removed. The debris will be hauled away, crushed and recycled. LFR already has plans for a replacement tower at the same location. Majors says the new structure will have a modular design, allowing individual components to be replaced if they deteriorate in the future.
“It has a little bit few more luxuries that you can actually replace a part instead of starting over from scratch.” Majors says crews hope to begin work on the new tower’s concrete footings after the old structure is removed, with the goal of having the footings completed before winter.
The new tower is expected to be ready in 2027. Majors says the replacement will restore several important training capabilities, including rope rescue, confined-space training and firefighter search exercises. “One of the missing pieces that we’ve had is a fully functional tower where we can routinely do things like rope rescue.”
The new four story facility will also include movable walls for search training, areas for over-the-side exercises and a confined-space training opening. It will also be designed to handle large amounts of water used during firefighting drills.
Majors says the new tower will be an important resource not only for Lincoln firefighters, but also for specialized teams, including Nebraska Task Force One. “It’ll just be a lot nicer environment to do that.”