Crime & Safety

Palos Fire Unveils the Results of Free Kitchen Makeover

The Palos Fire Protection District won a kitchen remodel from IKEA in a nationwide contest. Take a look at the before and after photos.

The shiny new counters and spacious cabinets are quite the departure from the leaky sink and peeling floors they were used to. 

The Palos Fire Protection District unveiled Station One's new kitchen courtesy of IKEA. The district by The Family Handyman magazine. Palos came out on top by about 20,000 votes, besting much bigger departments from across the country. 

The remodel virtually gutted the existing kitchen and left firefighters with eating, dining and cooking areas designed specifically for their needs. 

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Marianne DeHaan, the district's administrative assistant, stumbled upon the contest and penned the essay that got Palos to the finals. Votes pured in from across the country and even overseas. 

"Without the support of the community we never would have come out on top," DeHaan said. "This is really the heart of the station. It is where they eat, where they meet."

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The design for the new kitchen was worked on by two firefighters and a team from the store in Bolingbrook. 

The end product is both functional and visually appealing. 

"We really worked to give them the kitchen they wanted," said Wanda Fisher, of IKEA. 

That kitchen has three refrigerators and three separate pantries for each shift, as well as ample cabinet storage that makes cooking and feeding a full crew an easier task. 

IKEA also provided dishes, cookware and decorative touches to the space, Fisher said. 

Firefighter Tom Foley says the entire competition was an opportunity to rally the community and give them a glimpse into their fire station. 

"People got to see inside of the station and see what we had," Foley said. 

DeHaan is proud of the role she played in securing the remodel. 

"We just didn't have the funds to make these improvements," she said. "And even if we did, it would never be this nice."

Scroll through the photo gallery to see the before and after shots of the kitchen. 


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