By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
October 19, 2004
With the yearlong $1.25 million renovation of the Cos Cob fire station complete, firefighters will return to work in the historic building within two weeks, fire officials said yesterday.
The interior of the brick firehouse, built in 1922, was dilapidated, Fire Chief Daniel Warzoha said. The renovation updated it and should improve working conditions and morale, he said.
"There were all types of problems with lighting, heating and ventilation," Warzoha said. "It's in much better shape, and they've done a good job for us here."
The project was the first of five planned renovations of the town's fire stations over 15 years, said Alan Monelli, the town Department of Public Works' building superintendent.
In Cos Cob, construction workers moved dormitories, the kitchen and bathrooms to the building's first floor, replaced the original plumbing, electrical and heating systems, and installed central air conditioning, Monelli said.
Moving career firefighters' sleeping quarters from the second floor to the first will keep firefighters closer to the trucks and improve their response time, Warzoha said.
To meet current building standards, workers removed asbestos in the floor, ceiling tiles and panels and pipe insulation, Monelli said. They also installed an elevator to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition, they added a card-key system to the entrances, to make the building more secure, and rearranged the building's second floor to provide administrators with better office space, Monelli said.
"It is a complete makeover, and it's a much better place operationally," Monelli said. "It's a much more pleasant place to work."
Because the building is on the State Register of Historic Places, its exterior was not changed during the renovation, Monelli said.
Running the Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Department during the renovation was complicated because career firefighters operated from a trailer next to the station, while volunteers moved into temporary headquarters on River Road Extension, Volunteer Chief Thomas Anderson said.
"Running two fire departments was difficult at times," Anderson said. "The volunteer building wasn't much to look at and pretty cold in the winter."
Anderson said the old firehouse was overheated during the winter, and difficult to cool in the summer.
"Basically, it was too hot all year round," Anderson said.
The town will begin a $2 million renovation of the Glenville Fire Station in the spring, Monelli said. That renovation will include removing asbestos, building new dormitories and replacing old electrical and heating systems in the circa 1951 building, he said.
The Sound Beach and Byram firehouses will be renovated after Glenville, and the central fire station will be upgraded as part of the town's construction of a new public safety complex, Monelli said.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.