BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP - Work on the new fire station on the Burlington Bypass is moving along, and fire district officials expect it to be ready by the end of the year.
"From everything I hear, we're on point and making progress," said Tony Correia, director of fire services. "We brought the fire company members over for a tour a couple weeks ago and they all seemed happy with the progress. After some of the false starts we had and disappointments, most people are just happy to hear it's moving in the right direction."
The $5.9 million station will replace the small and outdated Independent Fire Company on Rancocas Road.
In a 373-194 vote, residents approved funding for the station through a December 2006 referendum, after having rejected it 168-113 in July 2006. Voters agreed to allow the fire district to borrow $4.4 million for the project. Contracts totaling $4,795,915 were awarded to several vendors in October.
The station, which will be built opposite the Fountain Woods Elementary School on 5 acres donated by the Masonic Home of New Jersey, will offer safety systems and other capabilities that were either unavailable or impossible to install at the Independent firehouse, which is more than 50 years old.
The fire district offices, which are in the basement of the municipal building, will be relocated to the station to centralize operations.
"The older building doesn't have any of the safety systems, like the diesel exhaust system, and the room is just very cramped. And when they built that firehouse, the trucks were a lot smaller. When they build trucks, they're generally a lot bigger these days," Correia said.
Construction began in December but slowed during the winter, when a lot of preliminary site work was completed, such as moving soil. Things picked up substantially when the weather changed, and lately there has been a lot of activity, according to fire district chairman John Stewart. Masons are installing stone blocks, and roof trusses for the engine room measuring between 80 and 85 feet long are expected to be delivered in one piece and installed within the next two weeks, Stewart said.
"It's better than 50 percent complete," he said. "We are scheduled for completion approximately in the middle of December this year."
With the township struggling with layoffs and the school district budget rejected by voters in April, some residents have complained about the project's expense, but Stewart countered that it's a necessity.
"The project has been in planning for at least five years," he said. "The need for fire services is still there and we have to keep up with the times. [The new station] will serve as our main fire station for the township."
The Independent firehouse most likely will be sold to help recoup costs for the new one, Stewart said.
Correia said the new station wouldn't have been possible without the help of the Masonic Home, which owns the land and has agreed to lease it to the district for $1 for 75 years.
"It's a great project, and obviously it would have been very difficult for us to do this without a great community partner like the Masonic Home," he said. "The taxpayers are truly getting every bit of their money's worth. It's a multifaceted building for multifaceted use. The key is to get our volunteer firefighters in there so they have a space where they can work effectively."
