Before moving forward with plans for a new fire station, a committee comprising Eau Claire Fire Department line personnel and management toured facilities in Wisconsin and Minnesota to pick out the best features of each. Battalion Chief Joe Kelly, the department’s lead on the project, is pleased with the end result. “I can’t say enough about the contractors, the designers, the crew who worked on this project,” Kelly said Tuesday during a tour of the new north side station. “They have done a good job for us.” The red-brick building, which replaces the department’s Station 10, is nestled in a wooded area on Malden Avenue, less than a mile east of the existing station at Birch Street and North Hastings Way. The project is on time and under budget, two things Kelly and fire Chief Chris Bell are proud of. Keys to the building are expected to be turned over to the department Friday.