Glens Falls eyes consolidated fire station at former Rite Aid; perhaps with police station too

Chronicle staff writer Ben Westcott writes: The City of Glens Falls announced it is doing a feasibility study to consider whether to sell its two fire stations — at 134 Ridge St. and the intersection of Broad and Murray streets — and consolidate them in a new building at 124 Ridge, where the Rite-Aid store closed last year.

“The needs of the Glens Falls Fire Department have grown…The upgrades needed may be larger than the older buildings can handle,” said the press release.

“The Glens Falls Fire Department infrastructure needs serious attention,” Mayor Diana Palmer was quoted.

The City is also floating the idea of a “consolidated public safety building” housing both police and fire at the site. The feasibility study will look into the details of that possibility, the release noted.

As to the firehouses, the Ridge Street Station, built in 1939, “has bays that are too small for modern, conventional apparatuses, forcing the city to buy custom vehicles that fit the space,” the City said.

“The insulation has been inadequate, and the plumbing has had several major backups over the last few years, causing unsanitary conditions in the bathrooms and vehicle/apparatus bay areas.”

The Broad Street Station, completed in 1973, “lacks insulation” and “was created mainly to house a ladder truck, since the Ridge Street Station had no room to hold a truck of that size.”

Fire Chief Craig Bascue said the department’s fleet has doubled in size “over the years” with “the inclusion of EMS ambulances and other vehicles”.

Chief Bascue was quoted, “We have one building that is nearly 90 years old (the Ridge Street Station), and another that was built in 1972 (the Broad Street Station) to be a short-term space.

“That was 54 years ago. The idea that the City Administration is taking the initial steps to explore options to improve the infrastructure of our very aggressive evolving department is very encouraging and we are greatly appreciative.”

Mayor Palmer was quoted, “We need to understand the cost of maintaining our existing firehouses, including the repairs they require, the expense of operating two aging buildings with little or no insulation, and the continued need to purchase custom fire apparatus designed to fit buildings built for a different era of firefighting. Then we need to weigh those expenses against the cost of building a more efficient facility that could serve the department for decades to come.

“A feasibility study gives us the opportunity to consider what we might do, but it does not require us to move forward if he numbers don’t work.”

The Rite Aid site would “put the new station in the center of the city on an intersection of major arteries,” the City press release said.

Chief Bascue said, “We do not expect anyone in the city to see an increase in response time of more than one minute, if any at all, with the new location.”

“There are not that many properties that fit this need,” Mayor Palmer said of the Rite Aid site. “I believe we have to consider it, given the needs of the department and the central location of this property.”

The release added, “The improvement would bring communications among leadership and firefighters to one location and would likely aid in training, recruitment, and retention. It is not expected to affect workforce staffing.”

The city said it has begun preliminary conversations with parties interested in redeveloping the Ridge Street Station while preserving its historic character.

It said the Broad Street site “could also provide future redevelopment opportunities.”

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