Prospect Franklin Township VFD expanding, renovating fire station
PROSPECT — Prospect-Franklin Volunteer Fire Department’s station will be bigger and better in late spring when an addition and renovation project is finished.
“Everything will be updated. It will look like a brand-new building from the inside and the outside,” said chief Nate Blackwood.
The station, which has been a fixture on Main Street since the early 1900s, is getting an addition to house three truck bays, including a drive-through bay; and renovations are being made to the existing building.
Blackwood said the department, established in 1912, currently fits four trucks into the two existing bays and, for some calls, has to move a truck to get another out, which adds to response times.
“We only have two truck bays, but we have four trucks in those two bays. They’re stacked two deep,” Blackwood said. “On certain calls, we have to move a truck to get the one we need.”
In the end, the renovated station will measure about 5,600 square feet with more room for storing and maintaining gear and tools and for the training the department’s 20 firefighters rely on, he said.
“This project will prepare us for decades to come,” said Mike Davis, fire department president.
He said he appreciates residents living nearby for being patient during construction and putting up with the noise.
Doug Trimble, vice president of the building committee, said he hopes residents will continue supporting the department as the renovated station is finished.
Work on the addition began last week. The plan is to complete the addition in December, move the trucks into it and then renovate the existing part of the station, he said. The existing part of the building will get a new ceiling, paint and an epoxy coated floor.
The garage bay doors on the addition will face Main Street, just like the existing doors. The entire building will have a new roof and metal siding when it is finished.
The expanded station will have space for a new fire truck the department is planning to buy to replace the department’s old engine truck.
“It will accommodate our trucks and give us more room for ordering a new truck. Our current engine is 26 years old,” Blackwood said.
Other features include the resetting of the military honor roll in front of the station and installing a plaque listing the names of donors who contributed $1,000 or more toward the project, he said.
In addition, the borough is changing Perry Street, a one-way road adjacent to the station toward Maple Street, to address traffic safety concerns raised by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Money to pay for the $600,000 project is coming from the fire tax imposed in the borough and township, donations and the money raised by department fundraising efforts, he said.
“Without the fire tax, I don’t know if the project would be feasible,” Blackwood said.
He said he hopes the new station is completed before Prospect’s annual Memorial Day parade and community day.
