3
Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Good-Will firehouse demolished
Fire company sets up temporary home at auto dealership
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The former Good-Will firehouse was
demolished this week. Thanks to the
generosity of one local business owner,
the entire Good-Will Fire Department
is being housed for free while awaiting
construction of a new firehouse.
“It’s about time,” said Good-Will Deputy
Fire Commissioner John Conner as he
watched an excavator tear into the rear of
the building on Monday.
The hulking excavator clawed its
way through walls and ceilings, leaving
a dusty trail of pummeled debris. The
asbestos-filled building, which served
as the Good-Will fire station since the
1960s, was knocked down nine months
following a district vote to fund a new,
11,400-square-foot firehouse.
The building project is estimated to
cost $3.9 million. Voters approved a $3.2
million serial bond for the project last
year.
However, construction could take up
to a year to complete. And, when a plan
to move into an empty building owned by
the New York State Thruway Authority
fell through earlier this year, Ron Barton
of Barton Chevrolet Cadillac stepped up
to the plate. “He’s an upstanding citizen,”
Conner said of the business owner.
The bay doors were open wide at the
auto dealership on Rt. 17K on a busy
week day last week, making a path for
vehicles to be serviced for oil changes,
filter replacements and a host of other
services.
Several fire trucks lined one wall,
alongside a standing rack of hanging
fire gear. “One side is a service area for
An excavator demolishes the old Good-Will firehouse on South Plank Road.
Barton and the other side is a firehouse,”
Conner said.
The fire department had been facing a
bill of more than $11,000 a month to lease
the Thruway Authority building on Tar
Road, when, according to Conner, the
state abruptly changed course. “They said
they were going to put the building up for
sale and they didn’t want us to move in,”
Conner said.
The department was looking for
another place to move into in a hurry,
when Barton made a generous offer. “Ron
Barton offered to have us move in here for
free,” said Conner, incredulously.
The department gladly accepted the
offer and moved two pumper trucks, one
heavy rescue truck, two pick-ups and gear
into the facility at the beginning of the
month. Taking up about 30,000 square feet
of space, the fire department was allowed
to freely share the company’s Internet,
Conner said.
The grateful tenants installed new
carpets, a new ceiling, working heat and
air conditioning in a small office that was
converted into a dispatch center. “We’re
Spa & Nails
pretty much moved in now,” Conner said,
sitting in the office last week.
When asked why he invited the fire
department to work out of his dealership
at no charge, Barton was to the point. “It
seemed like the right thing to do,” Barton
said. “Whenever we’re in need – in an
automobile accident or an emergency of
any kind – they’re always there. They
don’t get paid.”
The all-volunteer fire company has
already responded to several calls while
operating from its new, temporary home.
“We receive pages from Orange County
Emergency Services Center,” Conner s
Fire district Treasurer Frank Galli said
the fire department was saving between
$8,000 and $9,000 a month in utilities and
maintenance costs while operating out of
the car dealership.
Construction on the new firehouse at
the South Plank Road site will begin in
October. Conner said he anticipates the
new