The Hallowell Fire Station is a historic part of the city's downtown. But it's considered by many to be unsuitable for modern firefighting. The public's overwhelming support for the building led City Council to vote to preserve it. Councilors also voted to keep the city's fire department instead of contracting with Augusta to provide that service.
But the building’s small size and location on 2nd Street remain problems.
So Hallowell City Councilors opted to move the local fire department by leasing space in a yet-to-be built fire station in neighboring Farmingdale.
“We are going to jointly build a new fire station. It’ll be close to the Hallowell/Farmingdale line. From that fire station, the five mile radius literally will hit every point in Hallowell, so we meet that ISO standard for fire safety and we will maintain our independence,” said Mark Walker, the Mayor of Hallowell.
Construction on the new fire station could start by this summer.