The South River Firehouse has been in use for 100 years and will be replaced. The new firehouse will take about a year to build and will be located on the corner of Jackson and Raritan streets. It doesn’t take a trip to the South River Firehouse to see the sinking floors, the rickety steps, or the outdated top floor to understand why the borough is in need of a new building.
“It’s outlived its usefulness. It’s falling apart — literally. There are road plates holding up the engines [fire trucks] because the floor is sinking,” said Councilman Tony Ciulla about the medley of problems surrounding the 100-year-old building that is located at 38 George St.
At a special council meeting on Aug. 3, the borough awarded a contract to D&K Construction, which previously performed renovations to the high school. The motion was passed unanimously.
“This is a moment in history that has been a long time coming. It has been thrust on us courtesy of a collapsing firehouse. That is why it is needed, because it is collapsing,” said Mayor John Krenzel.
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL NUNES/STAFF D&K Construction, which is housed in Middlesex County, was awarded the $7.4 million contract, which includes the base bid of $6.9 million and a $400,000 alternate, for the construction of the new firehouse. The new firehouse is expected to be completed in the fall of 2016.
The new firehouse, which will be built on the corner of Jackson and Raritan streets, according to Ciulla, will be approximately 21,000 square-feet.
The firehouse will be built on the site of the former Knights of Columbus Boxing Club, which was demolished earlier this year.
The new home for the South River Fire Squad, according to Krenzel, will be built to serve the borough for as long as the current one. “It’s going to be a building for not only 2015 and 16, but 2050 and 2060… This is a firehouse that’s going to last hopefully as long as the old one which is almost 100 years old. That’s what this one is being planned for, to last 75 to 100 years,” said Krenzel.
“We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s being built large enough so it can take care of whatever the future holds.”
According to Business Administrator Frederick Carr, the firehouse is unsafe and will be demolished. There is a possibility that the space will be used for parking for the police station, according to Carr.
The current firehouse has been in use since the early 1900’s.
“The pulleys are still there to take the saddles off the horses, I can tell you that much,” quipped Ciulla.
The firehouse is so out of date that, according to Fire Chief Steve Drugos, it does not comply with state standards.
“OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] has been around the local firehouses in Middlesex County and we’ve had to keep pushing them off or else they would have shut this building down,” said Drugos.
According to the chief, the firehouse is also not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The new firehouse will do more than comply with state workplace standards.
“It’s going to be modern technology, sleeping quarters, a ready room and a kitchen. If a natural disaster was to happen, were going to be prepared and ready to go,” said Drugos.
Also there will be modernized offices that will help reduce the clutter in the old building.
“Moving forward it’s a great thing, it was just long overdue,” he said, adding that the idea of a new firehouse had been discussed for the past decade.
Despite the idea of moving to a new, updated building, the chief said there are a lot of memories that have been made in the firehouse.
“I think they’re going to miss it. There are a lot of great memories in this building, from the former members who have built it and those who have spent countless hours here. I think they’re going to miss the history,” said Drugos.
The South River Fire Squad is seeking members and will have a recruitment drive in the fall, for more information the squad can be contacted at southriverfire.org.