Stepping back for a better view of the new Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association (NVAA) garage at Fairfield Hills, Board of Trustees President Robert Grossman, MD, watched contractors finish floors in the entryway.

“Title that the finishing touches,” he said. Construction on the new, privately funded, $4.5 million project with a six-bay garage, staff quarters, conference and classrooms, and more, is finished. Although Dr Grossman and NVAA Treasurer Bruce Herring were still waiting Wednesday, October 1, for the certificate of occupancy, grand opening ceremonies have been set for Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19, at the new site for NVAA’s headquarters: 6 Washington Square. The driveway for the new location is off Wasserman Way, opposite Reed Intermediate School.

Dr Grossman and Mr Herring are both looking forward to the upcoming dates.

Town officials and staff from Danbury Hospital, Masonicare, and Maplewood are invited to the facility on Saturday, October 18, from 2 to 4 pm. The following day will host a pair of receptions: first responders are invited to visit from 2 to 4 pm, and the public is invited for 4 to 6 pm, for walk-throughs and barbecue celebration.

As Dr Grossman walked through the new space and stepped across a brick courtyard behind the building on Wednesday, he passed copper gutters, listening to light rain water drip through them. Glancing at the copper drains, areas of copper roofing, exterior brickwork, and the cupolas, he said, “I love it.” On site daily in recent weeks, and among several individuals with their initials carved into fresh cement near the entrance, Dr Grossman pointed to a section of brick façade, saying that he laid the brick and mortar himself.

“I had to have my hand in it,” he said.

Across the front overhang will be a sign reading Newtown Volunteer Ambulance, which will house the volunteer ambulance corps including emergency medical technicians who provide emergency ambulance service. While the sign has not yet arrived, everything else is done. Beds in bunk rooms are made, a television waits in the common living area adjoined by a large, full kitchen. Mail slots and lockers are in for the volunteers who will be using them, a projector screen sits facing a room of nearly 50 seats where classes and training can begin, and the entire space — which also includes bathrooms, storage closets, stairways, and elevators — give off the fresh scent of new construction.

Opening a door leading to a back patio surrounded by lamp posts, Dr Grossman said, “This will be good for sitting out on a summer day.”

From behind the building, which fits in with the 1930s-era architecture at Fairfield Hills, the building sits closely to duplex houses left over from the former state hospital days, which are slated for renovation and reuse.

The new design has taken into consideration the need for increased integration with other Newtown-based health and wellness organizations, with a second floor devoted to education. Features of the building include individual crew-member bunk rooms, office space for the Executive Board and the association, six garage bays, and technologically advanced electronic and security systems.

Costs associated with the $4.5 million build have been covered through private funding: according to the association’s website, the new headquarters was financed with $3 million from organizational reserves and a $1.5 million 30-year mortgage from Newtown Savings Bank.

In addition, the ambulance association has a 99-year land lease with the town for $1 a year, also paying common charges to Fairfield Hills Authority for its portion of the costs associated with operating the campus.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps has been serving the community since 1941. As the town’s population grows and the demand for service increases, so do the needs of the organization.

With 70 members and an annual 911 call volume of more than 2,200, the corps has outgrown the facility it has occupied at 77 Main Street since 1972.