The McCully fire station will close Thursday.

The fire station was built in 1948 to house the crew and equipment for Ladder 29. At the time, it was considered one of the most technologically advanced fire stations in the Islands.

Now, almost 60 years later, it is in bad shape and needs serious upgrades to keep up with the the needs of the area. Today's fire trucks don't even fit in the building.

"You have to think, (it was built) before high rises were around," said Capt. Robert Main, of the Honolulu Fire Department. "This was even before Ala Moana (Center)."

Main said firefighters moved all station equipment, furniture, and fire rescue equipment out of the 6,872-square-foot building last week.

"We're excited and anxiously awaiting our new station," said Ron Lockwood, chairman of the McCully/Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board. "It would be nice to have a station that the trucks could fit into."

Although renovating the station would be ideal, the cost would be far greater than demolishing the building and building a new one, Main said. The planned 10,350-square-foot facility will meet infrastructure requirements for computers and other technology that wasn't available in the old station, Main said.