Wood River City Council Meeting
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WOOD RIVER – Wood River first responders will use a former Madison County Housing Authority property for training purposes over the next few days, just before the building is set to be demolished and replaced.
The Wood River Police and Fire Departments will use the former Stevens Building at 118 Haller St. for training purposes from Jan. 7-11, 2026 at no cost to the city under an agreement between the city and the Madison County Housing Authority (MCHA) approved by City Council members on Jan. 5, 2026.
Councilman Bill Dettmers asked if this training would involve burning down the building, as has been done in some previous fire department training exercises. City Manage Steve Palen said the training will involve the Wood River Police Department, but will not involve burning the building down.
The former apartment building is set to be demolished on Monday, Jan. 12 and will replaced by a newly constructed apartment building on the same site. This comes three years after Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) awarded $26 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits for affordable housing projects throughout the state in 2023, including the Stevens Building replacement project in Wood River.
A full recording of the Jan. 5, 2025 Wood River City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
