Coe students should be living in former fire house come fall

CEDAR RAPIDS - Coe College should be ready in late August to house about 26 students in the city's former district fire station at 1424 B Ave. NE next to the Coe campus.

The City Council on Tuesday changed the zoning for the former fire station from public zone to a multiple-family residential district, a routine change needed to turn the property into apartments for Coe students.

Coe purchased the fire station, built in 1925, last year for $290,000 after the city moved into its new Central Fire Station at 713 First Ave. SE and no longer needed the B Avenue NE district station.

Rod Pritchard, director of marketing and public relations at Coe, said the college plans to renovate the former fire house for an estimated cost of $325,000 and have it ready to house up to 26 students by the start of the 2014-2015 college year.