Ti Fire Department to reveal new station plans to community

TICONDEROGA | For over a decade, the Ticonderoga Fire Department has been working to bring a new fire station to life, and on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. at the station at 60 Montcalm St., community members will have the opportunity to see and hear for themselves all of the details when the plan is finally revealed to the public. All community members are invited to attend the completely open forum, and those with questions are encouraged to ask. Phillip Quindara, CSArch Marketing Director, the Albany-based architectural and engineering firm that will be presenting to the public alongside Fire Chief Jason Parent. The event will be the first instance of information being revealed to the public on the new fire station. "There has been a lot of talk around the community about what has been happening and there has been a lot of work behind the scenes in terms of working with Jason and other people at the district," shared Phillip Quindara. The concept of the need for new fire departments is not new in the North Country. Ti would be joining other communities such as Ausable, Westport, and Warrensburg in gaining a new, modern 21st-century facility. The department has been housed at the brick building on Montcalm Street since 1976. Built as a grocery store in the 1950s, the structure's age and antiquated design have been showing for quite some time. There is deterioration of structure and support systems, and retrofitting or restoration were simply too costly, and also brought coding, financing, and logistical constraints. A severe interior white mold infestation shut the building down and displaced the all-volunteer department in 2023. And though the mold was remediated, there is a risk it could return looming in the air. The building was built on top of clay, which provides no drainage from groundwater. Combating the problem, the parking lot slopes downward and all water drains right to the firehouse. When the structure was originally built decades ago, there were no vapor barriers installed in the floors, walls, or the roof. There is no HVAC system, and very few windows, and for obvious reasons leaving doors open to attempt to gain airflow isn't a wise solution. "The current station is not in any condition with what has happened over the past 20 years or so, between the mold, the cracking floors, and its deteriorating condition- It is really a challenge for anyone to run a fire station out of that building," Quindara said. "This fire station will hopefully remedy all of those problems." This wouldn't be the first modern fire station that CSArch has tackled, far from it. The portfolio is full of civic and institutional public clients, including The Good Will Fire District in Newburgh, NY, South Spring Valley Fire District in Chestnut Ridge, NY, and most recently completed work for the North West Fire District out in the Syracuse area and have also done work for North Greenbush Fire District #1. "Part of our expertise is to work with fire districts on projects like this," Quindara said. After working with several engineering firms, multiple feasibility studies conducted, and even visiting the vacant Lowe's building to see if that would be an option, the department met with CSArch last year to try and finally pull the project together. "The biggest question in the community is cost," acknowledged Chief Jason Parent in an informational video created by CSARCH. "We are trying to make this the most cost-effective for the taxpayers and get the most you can for the money that is spent and try to make it have the least impact on the taxes." Elizabeth Brutsch, CSArch architect, explained in the informational video that the plans began with a meeting with Parent and a walk-through of the current station, discussing what the district needs to run a firematic station on the site (or in any site in Ticonderoga). "We also talked about the community component, knowing that voting, Bingo, and other community organizations have all utilized this space in the past for their events," she shared. Brutsch said as the process went on, cuts did have to be made, looking at the wish list versus what the needs really are. "We have also been very mindful that cost is going to be very important to the community," expressed Brutsch. "It is not cheap to build any building nowadays, especially a fire station." Spaces that are being designed now will be very flexible so that whatever it is used for today could be something diff tomorrow. Brutsch said a number of different plan designs have been considered, with hard decisions being made about what to keep, what needs to come from the current station, and what needs to be provided in the new station. The budget is also being examined to see what the new station may look like as a tax impact to the community. "For the public, if they want to find out exactly what the plan is, definitely come, Quindara said. "We will reveal a lot and have a lot of questions answered. Anyone that is interested in learning more about the plans for the fire station should attend, voting community members especially." Quindara explained that ultimately, the fate of the new firehouse coming to fruition will lie within the hands of town residents. "Taxpayers will put it to a vote, the date is to be determined," he said. "The fire station was a community center, it was a hub of Ticonderoga, and it has lost that a little bit. We want to make it so that the fire district can operate and do what they need to do, but also bring back Bingo, bring back all of those different events that they could have for the community that just aren't possible right now."

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Ti Fire Department to reveal new station plans to community

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