Paul Hughes
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
(TNS)
May 14—WATERBURY — City officials estimate that a full renovation of Fire Station 1 on North Main Street will cost $5.5 million.
The city administration is asking the Board of Aldermen to approve an additional $6.7 million in city bonding to pay for the North Side Firehouse project, upgrades to several other firehouses, and preliminary costs related to the replacement of Fire Station 5 on East Main, including property acquisition.
The bonding request and a second one for $6 million for funding renovations to the city-owned One Exchange Place building will be subjects of two public hearings before Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting set for 5:44 p.m. and 5:51 p.m. Aldermen could approve the bond issues at the regular meeting to follow. It will take 11 affirmative votes to approve each one.
Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. reminded the Board of Aldermen that Fire Station 1 is the next up in the ongoing program to update the city’s nine firehouses when he submitted the $6.7 million bonding request at its May 5 meeting.
In 2021, the Board of Aldermen approved an initial $1.3 million bond authorization for the fire station upgrades. The city administration reported that since then it was determined Fire Station 1 requires substantial renovations.
The scope of work for the planned $5.5 million renovation of Fire Station 1 includes structural repairs, interior renovations, including living quarters on the second floor, and necessary upgrades to meet safety and operational standards. The existing firehouse at 1979 North Main St. was constructed in 1968.
The city accepted requests for proposals from contractors for the Fire Station 1 project from March 28 to April 29.
The additional $1.3 million of the requested $6.7 million bond authorization will pay for replacement of the bay doors at Fire Station 10 at 26 Field St. and Fire Station 11 at 740 Highland Ave., kitchen renovations for Fire Station 4 at 823 Baldwin St., and roof repairs for Fire Station 6 at 431 Willow St.
It will also provide preliminary funding for preparations for the replacement of Fire Station 5, including property acquisition, relocation and demolition.
Fire Station 5 at 1956 East Main St. was built in 1927, and it is not only antiquated and worn down, but also considered functionally obsolete, according to city officials. It is considered too small to adequately serve the fire safety needs of East End neighborhoods.
The firehouse can only accommodate a single fire engine, and the single exit and entrance is at the congested intersection on East Main Street and Southmayd Road. City officials have also said the existing station is too confined to meet the personnel needs of the firefighters assigned there.
The Board of Aldermen voted Feb. 24 to authorize the city administration to acquire the Las Delicias Bakery & Restaurant property at 1980 East Main St. through a negotiated sale or eminent domain for the planned replacement of Fire Station 5 next door. It is a small 0.21-acre property with a three-story building constructed in 1926 that consists of commercial and retail space on the first floor where the bakery is housed and apartments on the upper two floors. The city last valued the property at $404,700.
The acquisition of the Las Delicias property would allow for the construction of a larger firehouse that could accommodate two modern fire engines, and it would also provide a second means of ingress and egress on Brookdale Lane, which will