Town of Chesterton celebrates renovated Town Hall and Fire Station with community during ribbon cutting ceremony 

Members of the Duneland community joined the Chesterton Town Council and Fire Department on Monday, Jan. 26, to tour the remodeled town hall and fire house, a project now very nearly complete.

Attendees were also provided food during the open house—provided by Third Coast Spice Cafe and Bao’s pastry—followed by a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the renovations.

Town Council President Erin Collins is ecstatic about the project. 

“This project will come in at about $3.53 million with over half of that investment going directly into our fire department,” she said. “Those dollars weren’t just spent on bricks and walls; they were spent on safety training spaces, accessibility and long-term functionality. If you’ve been around town hall for a while, you know how far this space has come – from raspberry pink to jail cell gray to what we see here today. We increased seating capacity from 80 to 112 people, improved the sound, and installed the state of the art AV system so meetings are accessible and transparent. We added a dedicated community room, a space intentionally designed so that our local organizations, boards and residents have a place to meet and collaborate.”

Making sure that the municipal employees who work so hard for the Town of Chesterton have the best working environment possible has been a point of emphasis for years with the Chesterton Town Council. 

“This completes a series of updates for all of our departments,” Town Council Member Sharon Darnell said. “It reinforces our confidence in the town to move forward. The last leg of this is the update of the utility, which is in progress right now. Everyone should know they’re appreciated and have a beautiful place to work. Our community room will serve better than before, and early voting will be ready to go and for use in these facilities.”

Town Council Member Jim Ton admires how the renovations represent, in many ways, a total U-turn from the problems of the previous facility. 

“We’re really excited to have this new town hall meeting room, because the other one was a bit worn out,” Ton said. “It just needed some work, and we’re happy to have it done. Larson-Danielson, along with our engineering and building department here in town, did an outstanding job at picking up pieces and directing construction. I’m very impressed with the job that Erin Collins, Sharon Darnell, and our entire team has done.”

Meanwhile, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell and Assistant Town Engineer Matt Gavelek have guided monitored the remodel from design to groundbreaking to completion. 

“We started this project in October 2024 and had a groundbreaking ceremony in May 2025,” O’Dell said. “Now here we are today doing a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the complete reconstruction of both of these buildings. It’s taken a lot of time and effort by everyone involved to get to this point.”

While this was a meticulous project, Gavelek believes it was worth it to take time to iron out everything to a tee.

“This project has taken over 1,000 decisions on little details to bring this project to life,” Gavelek said. “This vital asset is ready to facilitate thousands of more future decisions that will shape this community.”

While there were many memories made at the old Chesterton town hall, this new space aligns better with the town’s identity. 

“I’m very proud of this renovation, because it was a massive collaboration and investment,” Town Council Member Jennifer Fisher said. “I believe it will benefit all of our community. It’s vastly improved from the old one, and this new space represents us better.”

Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell considers this renovation to be the ultimate reward for the hard work the CFD staff does to keep Chesterton safe. 

“They have all helped out in doing different things all the time,” O’Donnell said. “They have decorated this department, and they take a lot of pride in it. We’re appreciative of the community support we have here. This is a great opportunity, and we look forward to continuing working with the town council.”

Deputy Chief Aimee Gilbert is excited to see how transformative the newly renovated Chesterton Fire Department will be for helping people unwind while on the site. 

“Our previous station was built in the 1970s, and it was actually built as a volunteer fire department,” Gilbert said. “It was never built to have people sleeping here 24 hours a day. Over the years, we’ve made many modifications to make it adaptable to having people live here. We have separate female sleeping quarters, separate bathrooms, a beautiful training room, and a nice lounge. We have a station alerting system that gives our people all the information they need at the time of a call, and the square footage for our men and women to spread out.”

As these facilities embark on an era with a fresh working environment, the project is expected to elevate the productivity in the Town of Chesterton for many years to come. 

“This project wasn’t just about fixing what was outdated,” Collins said. “This was a purposeful investment to make sure that our town hall and fire department are positioned to serve the future needs of our growing community. This building supports transparency, accessibility, safety, and community connection. It’s exciting for the community, because this is their space and we want them to feel welcome.”

For more information on the Town of Chesterton, please visit chestertonin.org.