Following years of planning, construction on a new Ottawa River Rescue Squad headquarters is set to begin next week at 701 Hitt St. on the city's South Side.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Squad Vice President Brian Brenbarger said the new building would replace the agency's current home on Albin Stevens Drive off the Illinois River.

"We have been working on this project for more than six years," said Brenbarger. "The squad has been working out of the old building since the later 1950s and it will be great for us to have a new place with much more room for our boats, trailers, vehicles and other equipment."

Brenbarger said the squad began water-related rescues in August 1957 and currently answers emergency calls from a 15-mile radius or "wherever we're needed" throughout North Central Illinois.

He said the agency, which now has 20 members, handles 10 to 15 calls a years including assisting Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police in both land and water rescues at Starved Rock State Park.

"We decided to move to the new site because of flooding issues in our current location and to make way for Ottawa's ongoing waterfront development plans," Brenbarger said.

The half-acre property for the new construction was donated by Troy and Mike Feece of Feece Oil Co.

"The rescue squad needed it and asked us if we could help them," Troy said. "We were happy to accommodate them." He said an unneeded structure on the property was demolished last year to make way for the construction.

The new 5,000-square-foot building will be a pre-engineered, Butler-style steel structure, according to Rick Uranich of Phalen Construction Co. based out of Mendota.

Uranich said if the weather cooperates, work on the site will begin next week and is expected to be completed within six months.

Squad building committee member Brian Wilson explained the new building would improve response time for emergency calls.

"The new building will have a much larger garage area than we have right now, which will allow us to keep our boats and trailers hooked up to our vehicles and ready to go when we are called out."

Wilson said the new location would also provide space for the squad's CPR classes and other training sessions.

"Once this new building is up and opened, we also hope to provide boat safety classes for the public," he said. "We want to put more focus on education with the reminder that we are always looking for new volunteer members."

"The Ottawa River Rescue Squad exists mainly though public donations and we appreciate the support of the community over the years," Brenbarger said. He noted the squad's annual fundraising efforts began on May 1 and continue through this summer with a car show set for Sunday, July 28.