Date: Fri 22-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

firehouse-Hook-Ladder

Full Text:

Selectmen Ok Firehouse Expansion Plan

Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company plans to add three bays and an

upstairs area to its existing station behind Edmond Town Hall.

The fire department's proposed project was approved by the Board of Selectmen

Monday night, pending approval from other town agencies, as well. Hook &

Ladder is the only town-owned station, so it needed to get the approval before

acquiring the services of an architect.

Hook & Ladder volunteer firefighters Mike McCarthy and Bill McCarthy, who

presented the proposal to selectmen, estimated the size of the project to be

about 50 x 50 feet and cost approximately $350,000.

"We feel this is the best fit for the building. It's not the best fit for the

fire department or the town, but for the building," Mike McCarthy said.

The fire company is expected to come back to the board later to request

financial assistance, or at least a loan, for the project, something Board of

Fire Commissioner Kevin Cragin said he's been seeking for the past 10 years.

As the McCarthys explained, things are currently very tight at Hook & Ladder.

There is only one office and no training room. In one of the old bays, where

H&L keeps its pumper truck, there is only an inch or two of space on either

side of the mirrors.

The plan is expected to go through the town's entire ladn use review process,

including Planning & Zoning.

Edmond Town Hall would not lose any parking spaces, according to Mike

McCarthy.

The Municipal Space Needs Advisory Committee has discussed the possibility of

creating a municipal government complex that would house all the town's

administrative offices, police and fire, at one location.