Armonk firehouse open for business

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Armonk firehouse open for business

 

By ELIZABETH GANGA 

THE JOURNAL NEWS 

(Original publication: July 26, 2004)

With the scent of paint still in the air and the copper finial for the top of the building still standing in a corner, the Armonk fire department has begun responding to calls from its new firehouse on Route 22. 

The firetrucks have been driven out of their tight quarters at the old house on Maple Avenue and are parked in their expansive new bays at the $8 million house, which was overwhelmingly approved in a public referendum in February 2002, but has since become a controversial symbol of overreaching by public officials in building new facilities. 

With a brick, stone and stucco exterior, the house could be mistaken for a small town hall. But its supporters defend it as a firehouse that will serve the hamlet for at least 50 years. The Armonk department is one of three in North Castle. 

Bill Carlino, who lives next to the new house on Niles Avenue and has been one of its most vociferous critics, said it's too early to tell what the ultimate impact will be on him and his neighbors. 

"We'll form a final opinion when the landscaping is done," said Carlino, who acknowledged the firehouse is a beautiful building but has harshly criticized its size. "They say they want to be good neighbors and we certainly welcome that." 

Workers built an earth berm to shield nearby homes from truck headlights and create a buffer between the homes and the firehouse. 

The board of commissioners of North Castle Fire District No. 2, which runs the volunteer department, plans to sell the old firehouse on Maple Avenue soon to reduce taxes paying for the new house. Before putting it up for sale, the district is giving the town of North Castle time to study whether it could be used for a municipal purpose, particularly a recreation center, said John Heimerdinger, chairman of the board of fire commissioners. 

Two referendums to build a new town recreation center failed last winter, pushing the town to look again at the firehouse. The town had considered buying the old firehouse for the Recreation Department a few years ago, but decided to seek approval to sell bonds for a new building. At that time, the old firehouse was assessed at more than $1 million and renovations were expected to significantly drive up the cost of creating a recreation center there. 

Heimerdinger said the fire commissioners want an answer from the town by early August. 

Though the fire company is responding to calls from the new firehouse, it has not finished moving in, and construction workers are still making the final touches. The front lobby needs painting and the first-floor meeting room is still a construction office. 

But the rooms are already labeled with their uses. Much of the bottom floor is taken up with the apparatus bays, as well as the meeting room that will be available to the public, a "ready room" where firefighters will wait for calls and bunk rooms. 

Upstairs has offices for commissioners, district officials, chiefs, assistant chiefs, captains and lieutenants and the benevolent fund, along with storage closets, a conference room and the social room. 

"What people forget, I think, is you're really running two organizations out of here," Heimerdinger said, meaning the fire district and the fire company. 

Another Niles Avenue neighbor, Bob Isola, complained that the lights on the outside of the firehouse shine onto his neighborhood. He could live with them, he said, if they were on a motion sensor. 

"Every night you pass by here and it's like 42nd Street," Isola said. "The lights are always on." 

He also said the firehouse has had an immediate impact on the amount of traffic on Niles Avenue, which branches off from the firehouse driveway. Firetrucks sometimes use the road to wend their way toward the center of town, and the volunteers also use it instead of taking Route 22 to downtown Armonk, he said. 

"There are kids on the street playing," Isola said. 

Heimerdinger said he hopes to have an open house after Labor Day to allow the district's residents to see what they're paying for.

[Jybehofd 85]

Well its about time the new firehouse in Armonk is open and has been in serivce for a while now. We still have some bugs to work out of her just like any new piece of equipment. I heard rummors of a wet down or open house day around the fire house but no date is truly set though. What i do know is that we are going to be having a big bash for out 75th aniniveristy next year in 2005. This picture is the south side of the building. The bay door open up on the side of the building. There are 14 bays on the floor. 8 on one side and 6 on the other. Its a big difference from the old firehouse that had 4 bay door with are trucks going 2 to 3 deep behind one door. Now each truck has its own door. Well this is also the new website we have thanks to the boyscot troop in our town.

http://www.armonkfd.org/

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[Guest DADAY]

It's amaizing it took me 20 mins to walk through it. NICE HOUSE

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One of the nicest, largest, and most luxurious firehouses I have ever seen.

A ton of bathrooms too, lol!