It’s Time to Let The Firehouse Go

To the Editor:

The public hearings for the Sugar Street firehouse have concluded, and yet Hook & Ladder continues to send letters to The Bee, ostensibly to try to rally public opinion for their cause. They see this firehouse as their chance to achieve their dream; the perfect firehouse in the perfect location. They have pursued this dream for so long now that they see only the Shining Star that they would have it be.

In their presentations they speak of the need for a new firehouse, their history of public service, and the new building. But, they never describe the site itself, and how it would work, in any detail. And therein lies the rub. The usable site is too small for all that they would have this firehouse be. Their proposal does not work.

Let me tell you about the cornerstone of the project. Sugar Street slopes downhill as you travel along the site toward Main Street. In order to make a level area on which to build their Shining Star they would have to construct a concrete block retaining wall that is 300 feet long and 12½ feet high at the eastern end of the site. The western end of the site will be three feet below street level to keep the site level. Now imagine all of this capped with a massive paved area.

If this firehouse were built, what you would see as you drove up Sugar Street from Main Street would be, first, the Great Wall itself, over 2½ times higher than the car you were riding in; and then the building itself, the Shining Star, soaring on its artificial plateau, to a height of almost 50 feet above the street. This project would change the face of Newtown forever. No longer would we be the town with the flagpole, but rather we would be the town with the Great Wall and the Firehouse in the Sky.

The useable portion of the site is so small that fire trucks driving around the building (there is no room to turn around in front of the building) would literally be “threading the needle” between the building and the drop-off at the Wall. Larger fire trucks going in and out of the building would have to wiggle and dodge using both their front wheel and back wheel steering. Does this sound like a good plan? It’s another part of H&L’s proposal that they don’t talk about!

This site is so small that there is room for only 17 parking spaces for a fire company with 40-plus members. They promised the Borough Zoning Commission that they will carpool. Right! All of the five current firehouses have parking for 40 or more cars on their sites.

The IWC has already ruled against this plan. The time has come for H&L to let this inappropriate site go and begin working with the first selectman to find a workable site for their firehouse.

Robert Olah

34 Sugar Street, Newtown                                    December 21, 2010