PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP – With shovels in hand, Plymouth Township officials took part in a groundbreaking ceremony June 30 for an exciting new chapter in the township’s history.
The afternoon event kicked off the start of the fire hall renovation/addition project.
Will Ellsworth, chair of the trustees, said it was an awesome feeling to be part of new history being made.
“We’re really excited,” he said. “There’s been a lot of people who have come before us that got all this in motion.”
Township Fire Chief William Strubbe said the project will gut the community room, from the apparatus door to the other end of the room. Then, it will be re-partitioned into space for the fire department.
“This space is going to turn into fire department space,” he said, noting it will have new restrooms; two showers; a new kitchen; administrative space for the fire department; a locker room; and a laundry room.
“This is going to be the quarters for the staff firefighters, paramedics,” he added.
The new 1,200-square-foot addition, meanwhile, will be built onto the west end of the building and be the new town hall. It will have a new multi-use room that can be used for trustee and zoning meetings. It will also be used as an election polling place and a training classroom for the firefighters.
“Most of it is going to be consumed with an open room, but then there’s going to be an office for the township fiscal officer and township records,” Strubbe said. The new addition will also have a restroom and a storage room.
A $436,000 zero-percent interest loan from the State Fire Marshal’s Office will help pay for the $1 million-plus cost of the project. The remaining balance will be paid with cash that has been saved for the project.
According to Strubbe, the goal is to have the addition done by the end of October so it’s ready for November’s election. Work on the repurposed community room is hoped to be done by the end of the year.
He said the project is needed very badly, providing more room that is needed for the fire department.
The work is the first phase in what is hoped to be two-phase project.
“We’re calling this project Phase I because I have applied through Washington, D.C. for some funding to do additional work to the building, and if we get that funding, that will be Phase II,” he said, noting the next phase would consist of renovation work on the existing bays.
This would include replacing the floors and hopefully building an addition on the east end of the building with a turn-out gear room, a fitness room and maybe a couple of bays.
The trustees held a meeting before the ceremony to adopt the most current iteration of the required Cybersecurity Policy for the township.
“We had already done this, last Fall, but in a communication from the State Auditor’s office, it appeared that we should address it again by June 30,” Maryann Stevenson, township fiscal officer, said.
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