MUSCATINE, Iowa —  Iowa Gov. Chet Culver told Muscatine firefighters on Tuesday that the state has designated $200,000 in funding for new firehouse  in the city’s Southend.

Culver came to the 53-year-old Southend firehouse to make the announcement.

Muscatine Fire Chief Steve Dalbey said it will cost about $1.2 million to build a new firehouse that will have the space to accommodate more modern vehicles and equipment.

Muscatine firefighters and paramedics were part of a crowd of approximately 100 people that included city and county officials as well as members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 86D. The union members have been locked out at Grain Processing Corp. since August 2008.

The Union members were holding signs that stated they are locked out of GPC and need a contract.

Culver was officially welcomed by Muscatine Mayor Dick O’Brien and Andy White, president of the Muscatine Local 608 Association of Firefighters.

“Get a good look at this building,” White said to the crowd. “It won’t be long and we’ll be looking at a brand new fire station here.”

White called Dalbey a “blessing” as a fire department leader and also thanked Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine, for helping request the state grant.

Culver described Reichert as, “a tireless advocate for the people of Muscatine,” and said  the he requested the $200,000 grant for the  firehouse project through the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund.

“It’s wonderful to be here and see this teamwork, this community spirit,” Culver told the audience. 

Dalbey said he has also applied for a $600,000 federal grant to help fund the firehouse project, and he will learn how that request fared in about six months.

The new firehouse could be ready by the spring of 2011, said Dalbey.

The I-Jobs fund was another subject of Culver’s address. He said that funding provides $830 million to help rebuild Iowa’s buildings, telecommunications and renewable energy systems.

“You will decide at the local level how to invest it,” said Culver.

The Iowa floods of 2008 were  the fourth most significant natural disaster in United States’ history, said Culver, and $160 million of I-Jobs funds will go to flood-impacted communities for flood restoration.