TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—Members, families, and friends of the township’s volunteer fire and ambulance services cheered on the afternoon of Sept. 27 as officials dug shovels into a box of earth at the current firehouse and raised them with high hopes for the future.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, for an upwards of $6 million new emergency services complex at 656 Washington Ave., Mayor Peter Calamari said it was an honor and privilege to participate.
“Thankfully, most of us do not have to think about our emergency services too often… because we’re blessed to have volunteers among us who do think about it every day and are ready to answer that call on a moment’s notice,” he said.
He added that the new construction “shows them our appreciation for all they do for our community. It shows that when it comes right down to it, nothing is more important than meeting the needs of our essential emergency services departments.”
On Sept. 1, the Township Council awarded a $5,329,183 base bid contract to Tekcon Construction of Somerset, as recommended by town architect Robbie Conley of Woodbury Heights.
Last year, the governing body agreed to appropriate $6 million for the project, with $5,714,000 in financing.
The decision to build a new headquarters was not taken lightly, Calamari said at the ceremony, noting that rates were favorable for borrowing and that a committee of emergency services leaders, the administration, and the town architect and engineer worked out an agreeable cost-benefit scheme.
Township Administrator Robert Tovo told Pascack Press on Sept. 30 that a preconstruction meeting was imminent and that work likely would start early this month. Work will take 12 to 14 months and the township will see no interruption in fire or ambulance service, he said.
The current firehouse will be knocked down. Just east of its current footprint, near Pascack Road, will rise a 2-story, 44-foot-tall, 20,338-square-foot fire station and ambulance corps HQ, according to the latest plans we’ve seen.
Plans call for new traffic signals outside the firehouse to synchronize with emergency traffic, Calamari told Pascack Press in 2019. At some point, the Washington Avenue and Pascack Road intersection will be reconstructed under a shared services agreement the town is meant to be working out with Bergen County.
The Volunteer Ambulance Corps, now at 354 Hudson Ave., near the municipal building, will move into the first floor of the new firehouse.
Basic needs for the firehouse—erected in 1951 for $60,000 and upgraded in the 1960s—include bay doors to fit modern trucks, space for volunteers to perform essential primary and support functions, room to store gear, and areas to dress and equip themselves prior to calls.
Five bays will be available to the fire department, and two bays will accommodate the ambulance corps—as will a utility bay for a smaller first-responder vehicle.
Calamari said on Facebook in August 2019 that the new facility will include space for volunteers, room to store gear, and areas to dress before a call.
The new bays will provide more height for fire trucks, which now have 1.5 inches of clearance. They’ll also have a 14-foot door, adding 4 feet of clearance.
The facility will be the most significant local project undertaken in some time. It is be expected to protect the township and—through mutual aid—its neighbors for the lion’s share of the 21st century.
Also speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony were the Rev. Raymond Rodrigue, former fire chief James Zaconie, Fire Chief Kevin Zitko, Ambulance Corps Capt. Robert Rayve, former fire chief Pete Insetta, former Ambulance Corps Capt. Richard Miras, and Fire Department President Mike Agnello.
Guests included the governing body, Police Chief Richard Skinner, past New Jersey State Firemen’s Association President George Heflick, and past Montvale Fire Chief Clint Miller. (Architect Robbie Conley designed Montvale’s new firehouse, which was approved in 2015 and dedicated in 2018.)
Zitko, thanking taxpayers, said in part, “This is a historic moment in both the capital and construction marketplaces. Frankly, there has not been a more affordable time in recent memory to execute a project of this magnitude.”
He noted the current firehouse was built in 1951 as a three-bay structure. As needs and equipment grew in size and number, the department added two bays and the second floor in 1965.
“The firehouse has served us well for 69 years. Over the last 30 years the size of the trucks and the equipment we are required to have has increased exponentially, to the point that it can no longer be housed in the current facility,” he said.
Rayve said in part, “We are optimistic that this high-visibility location, as well as the dramatic improvements and modernization over our current headquarters, will help us to do an even better job of serving the residents of our town and the surrounding towns.”
He said, “We know there will be challenges ahead for all of us. For the ambulance corps, moving out of a building we’ve occupied for about 50 years will be a big job. More like an extraction than a move.… We will embrace those challenges.”
Meanwhile, the WTVAC is in search of overwintering space for its backup ambulance rig. If you can donate a space large enough, call the corps at (201) 664-3784.
For video of the groundbreaking ceremony, visit WCTVNJ online.