Building Project

Information Coming Soon!

    Oregon Fire Service Museum is constructing the first phase of its museum facility at Powerland Heritage Park, just off I-5 near Salem, Oregon’s capital.  Powerland is a community of heritage museums, including a vintage truck museum and conference center, a steam engine museum, trolley museum, logging museum, heavy construction and farm equipment museums, an early gas engine museum, an antique car and motorcycle museum, a steam sawmill, and more. 

    Our new museum building reflects the architecture of a 1920s two-bay, two-story firehouse with single-story education wings.  Antique fire apparatus, artifacts, and displays will convey the technology and history of firefighting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In one education hall, visitors of all ages will learn about Oregon’s early fire companies, walk through displays that tell the story of major historic Oregon fires, and view various inventions and firefighting artifacts. The second hall will feature an exhibit about early factory fire suppression. Behind the firehouse, a showroom will accommodate a portion of the museum’s collection of antique and vintage fire apparatus and offer an interactive fire safety experience.  A mezzanine provides OFSM with much needed office and archival storage areas.

    Further phased construction will add a memorial plaza, additional vehicle showroom space, and a restoration workroom.  Eventually, an elevator will be installed and the second floor expanded to provide space for a major wildland firefighting exhibit and other exciting features.

    Construction Update:

    We’ve completed the drywall, stairs, painting, installed doors, plumbing fixtures, and lighting.  The new archives, library, and office are climate-controlled, and have fire resistant insulation and wallboard for those spaces. We have installed the fire pole and have begun framing interior gallery display walls. Remaining tasks include the concrete driveways, exhibit construction, and landscaping. (11/28/2022)

    You can support our on-going construction with a monetary or in-kind donation or through our Buy a Brick program.  Click on the link for the form.

    PROJECT SUPPORTERS

    Oregon Community Foundation

    Union Pacific Railroad Foundation

    Dimmer Family Foundation

    Marion Cultural Development Corporation

    Autzen Foundation

    Salem Foundation

    Marion County

    City of Salem

    Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments