Massapequa fire district voters approve $9.5M bond for renovations

Massapequa fire district voters have approved a $9.5 million bond to renovate one of the district’s three firehouses.

The bond funds are to be used to expand the Park House firehouse on Front Street, which the department has  outgrown, said Thomas Fitzsimmons, superintendent of the Massapequa fire district.

District voters on March 26 approved the measure 565 to 176, Fitzsimmons said. The 15-year bond will increase taxes on the average home in the district by $32. A home valued at $450,000 currently pays $238 a year for fire district taxes, Fitzsimmons said.

“I think it’s going to be a benefit to the department currently and for the next 50, 60 years, giving them more than enough space to grow into it in the future,” Fitzsimmons said. “It’s going to make operations more efficient and increase the level of training of the members.”

The station has undergone several renovations since it was constructed in 1954. Most recently, in 2004, an addition was built to house the district’s ambulance fleet. But the department still needs more room, officials said.

Space is so tight that when a call comes in, members get dressed alongside the engines as they’re pulling out of the building, and ambulances need to pull out of the garage so the crew can remove the stretchers, Fitzsimmons said.

The renovated building will have an additional bay for vehicles, new showers and a larger workout facility, as well as a second floor with a meeting room, kitchen and lounge area. A storage room for equipment will also be built, which Fitzsimmons said is needed for the safety of the district’s firefighters.  

“Segregating the gear from the engines will limit their exposure to possible carcinogens,” Fitzsimmons said.

Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and should be completed in about 16 months, according to the district.