Southwest Harbor unveils $1.3M plan for new fire station

SOUTHWEST HARBOR – Town officials unveiled a plan Thursday night to build a new fire station off Main Street for $1.3 million.

The proposed project, for which the town would have to borrow $1.1 million, is expected to be put before the voters for approval at a March 1 special town meeting, according to Town Manager Ken Minier.

The Board of Selectmen, Minier and Harvey Oest of the South Portland design firm OEST Associates, laid out details of the plan Thursday night for about 30 people who attended a half-hour public hearing at the local American Legion hall next to the town office. Though it has taken 10 years of consistent debate and research to come up with the current proposal, the new building could be constructed and in use by the end of this year, Fire Chief Sam Chisholm said after the hearing.

“It’s small, it’s cold, there’s no storage space, and there’s no work space,” Chisholm said about the Fire Department’s current home in the first floor of the municipal building off Main Street.

Firetrucks are built larger now, and when they are in the fire station, it is difficult to walk around them, to open up side compartments, and even to drive them out of the building, according to Chisholm.

In one of the firetruck bays, a notch has been cut out of the trim around the garage door opening so the truck can fit through, he said. When it snows, 1 inch of snow on the ground outside the garage door can be enough to prevent the truck from getting out.

Chisholm said that because of the lack of space, one truck is in winter storage at the town garage on Seal Cove Road and another is kept at the fire station in neighboring Tremont.

The new station would be built off the west side of Main Street about a quarter-mile north of the existing building. The town bought a 7-acre parcel there in 2002 and, for each of the past five years, has raised $50,000 to put toward the anticipated construction project, Minier said.

The town manager said the town can afford to borrow the additional $1.1 million needed for the project.

“It’s a really needed building,” he said. “It’s a shame it’s so expensive, but nowadays what isn’t. I think it’s a good deal.”

Minier said OEST Associates, which was chosen from roughly half a dozen firms that bid on the proposal, would manage the construction of the building.

According to Oest, the 9,700-square-foot masonry and steel building should have a life span of about 50 years.

Selectmen defended their decision to have an architect design a building for use only as a fire station. They said they wanted to have a specific proposal for voters to consider and that they were concerned residents would not support construction of a larger building that could house more departments.

They also agreed that more money would have to be spent to renovate the existing municipal building after the Fire Department moves out.

“There could be other things added at a later date,” said Selectman Pam Norwood of the proposed building site. The planning process, she acknowledged, was long and involved.

“It may have taken way too long for some people,” Norwood said.