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Mendham Township to get new emergency services facility

MENDHAM TWP. – After a decade of waiting, the township broke ground last Thursday on a new $3.2 million emergency services building, which will house Brookside Engine Company No. 1 and the Mendham Township First Aid Squad.


Capped with hard hats, with shovels in hand, township and construction officials and members of the township fire department gathered on the hazy winter morning for the ceremonial groundbreaking.

Mayor Richard Krieg said the building has been long overdue, since the township started a study of the need for an emergency services building in 1996.

“The key thing is this is a collaborative effort between the Township Committee and emergency services, and it will be a benefit the community,” said Fire Chief Sam Tolley.

Tolley said the groundbreaking ceremony was particularly poignant because last week marked the beginning of construction on the World Trade Center memorial in New York City, reminding of the need for emergency services.

“I’m thrilled we’re getting started now and will be even more thrilled when we cut the ribbon [to commemorate the opening],” said Township Committeeman Robert Pierson, a member of Brookside Engine Company No. 1.

Township Administrator Steve Mountain said the general contractor is Consolidated Building Corp. of Flanders, and several other contractors will handle the structural steel, plumbing, heating/air conditioning/ventilation and electrical, with the total of bids coming in just under $3.2 million.

Weather Concerns

Mountain said weather may be a factor in the project’s timeline. He said the ideal timeline would be 12 months, but construction could take from a year to 15 months.

“Getting through the end of January is a critical period,” Mountain said. “We’re hoping to get the shell of the building up through the month of January.”

Officials said the current firehouse on Cherry Lane next to the municipal building will be demolished and the new building will be built directly behind the current structure.

The current firehouse was built in the 1950s, and the newer fire trucks do not fit in the building, as trucks have become larger.

Although renovations to the current building were considered, officials said it is located in a flood plain and has raised safety concerns.

The new emergency services building will encompass two floors, roughly 12,600 square-feet, said Michael Wonzy, an architect for EI Associates, the firm in charge of designing the building.

The building will have six bays, five for Brookside Engine Company No. 1 and one bay for the Mendham Township First Aid Squad. One of the bays for the fire department will house the township’s antique fire truck.

Wonzy said the first floor of the building will include an entrance lobby, apparatus rooms and office and storage space. There will be an elevator, and upstairs, he said there will be additional offices, a meeting room and a training all-purpose room.

In terms of the structure’s visage, Wonzy said the new building will have clapboard siding with stone around the base, and the bay doors will be a carriage house style.

“This is a historic district so the plans were reviewed by the historical society,” Wonzy said. “We tried to fit it [the new building] in with the early American character of the neighborhood.”

He said the firm is still in the process of narrowing down a color, but it will be fairly neutral.


©Recorder Community Newspapers 2006

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