After a year of renovations, FireKeepers Casino Hotel’s Fire Hub restaurant, bakery and food pantry will open on April 19 at the 113-year-old former Battle Creek Fire Station Number 4 in Battle Creek, Michigan. About 80 percent of the restaurant profits will go toward a fund to benefit local charities, with the remaining 20 percent reinvested back into the property. Another aspect of the project will use greenhouses to grow produce to donate to area school districts.
Vice President of Food and Beverage Michael McFarlen said, “The last time we were in here, there was dirt floors and we had to pull the plumbing out of here and there were a few beams. Literally everything from the brick in is new. All the joints and support beams and poured concrete floors and everything. When we came in here last week to look at it, the transformation is amazing.”
Owned by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, FireKeepers acquired the property in March 2016 for $250,000. The multifaceted project aims to eliminate hunger, in conjunction with the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, and to create a contemporary dining experience serving pizza, sandwiches, soup and baked goods.
The building opened and operated as a fire station from 1904 through 1983. As part of the renovations, asbestos and lead paint had to be removed, the weathered interior structure had to be reinforced from the basement up, the exterior façade had to be power washed and most of the interior fixtures and windows had to be replaced.
McFarlen said, “You knew there was going to be some structural issues and you knew there was going to be some building materials that were from the 1900s that are unacceptable for this day. There was a complete remediation of the building and that goes for any lead, asbestos and anything that could be a danger to anybody. The whole objective is to feed Battle Creek and to eliminate hunger. The epicenter of that is that we had to have a safe facility.”
Kellie Trimble, a pastry chef at FireKeepers, said, “When I did my interview with Chef Mike, because I’m from Louisiana, I came up not really thinking I’d be moving to Michigan. This project was one of the things he talked about, it was definitely one of the things that helped make my decision to move, to leave my family and friends to start something different.”
In the past year, FireKeepers completed renovations on Cafe 24/7, opened the Pit Stop gas station and car wash on its property and debuted Dacey’s Taphouse, a new restaurant and bar.
