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Bell tolls at fire station
Central makes way for hotel
number:
Bronislaus B. Kush
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORCESTER- The klaxon will sound for the last time tomorrow as firefighters make their last runs out of the Central Street fire station.
During the weekend, equipment, furniture and the personal items of firefighters will be removed - making way for the demolition of the firehouse for a new luxury hotel.
On Tuesday, the City Council approved a tax increment financing deal for the new Hilton Garden Inn.
The complex - to be built by Fargo Management LLC - will sit on the 34,224 square foot site now housing the Central Division.
Fire personnel and apparatus will be redeployed to other stations in a plan drawn up earlier in the year by Fire Chief Gerard A. Dio.
Fire officials yesterday said no special observances will be held when the station is decommissioned.
Philip J. Niddrie, Worcester's chief development officer, said workers will be on site as early as next week to assess the asbestos situation at the station.
He said the structure will be razed in October and work on the hotel could begin shortly after.
Mr. Niddrie said pilings could be in the ground for the hotel sometime before winter sets in.
"A lot will depend on the weather," he said.
When plans for the hotel first surfaced, firefighters said the demolition of the station would reduce downtown fire coverage.
Chief Dio and city officials maintained, however, that firefighters from the Southbridge Street station and fire headquarters on Grove Street could do the job.
In May of 1974, the City Council authorized then-City Manager Francis J. McGrath to borrow $890,000 on a 20-year bond to build the station at 70 Central St.
The complex was to replace the School Street Station and the firehouse behind the old police headquarters on Waldo Street.
The contract was awarded to F.W. Madigan Co. Inc. and was built under the oversight of Fire Chief Edward F. Hackett.
The two-story colonial structure was built on a lot acquired from the Worcester Redevelopment Authority.
It originally housed Engine 1, Engine Company 16, Aerial Scope 1, the Rescue Squad, and the north end district chief.
The structure sat on 41 piles and was reinforced by a network of steel beams because of its close proximity to the underground Blackstone River.
It featured 18,000 square feet of floor space, three strategically placed slide poles, special racks for rubber gear, and overhead tanks to fill pumpers.
"I've tried to design the building with the convenience of the firefighters always in mind," said architect John S. Bilzerian in an interview with Worcester Telegram police reporter Ernest J. "Buzz" Gallagher, shortly before the station opened in October of 1975. "Many things through this structure are real time savers."
The special features, however, drew criticism from some quarters, including Mayor Israel Katz, who described the station as "elaborate."
Fargo Management will pay the city $1 million for the site.
Under the tax deal, Fargo will receive a 50 percent tax exemption on the increase in property value over the duration of the 20-year agreement.
That means the developer will save about $2.6 million in property taxes during that period. The city, meanwhile, will realize about $2.7 million in new tax revenue from the increase in property value.
The TIF is to go into effect July 1, 2005.
In 1989, developer Philip O. Shwachman was interested in obtaining the parcel for a garage, as part of his plans for the $100 million Liberty Square office complex.
As a bit of history/perspective, this station was first due to the Cold Storage Warehouse. It's closing, however, isn't a huge impact on fire protection as there's three-company stations about 1 mile north and 1 mile south of Central, and the immediate area around Central is mostly commercial occupancies. You have a stronger arguement that an Engine Company is needed downtown not for fire protection but for EMS first response (tall/big buildings = takes longer to get to the patient while their sprinklers keep fires in check). Chief's plan is to build a new station just outside of Downtown, a bit past where the Warehouse was on Franklin, that'll eventually fill the role of the old Central station plus retire a Victorian era station at the other end of Franklin Street.
Bell tolls at fire station
Central makes way for hotel
number:
Bronislaus B. Kush
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORCESTER- The klaxon will sound for the last time tomorrow as firefighters make their last runs out of the Central Street fire station.
During the weekend, equipment, furniture and the personal items of firefighters will be removed - making way for the demolition of the firehouse for a new luxury hotel.
On Tuesday, the City Council approved a tax increment financing deal for the new Hilton Garden Inn.
The complex - to be built by Fargo Management LLC - will sit on the 34,224 square foot site now housing the Central Division.
Fire personnel and apparatus will be redeployed to other stations in a plan drawn up earlier in the year by Fire Chief Gerard A. Dio.
Fire officials yesterday said no special observances will be held when the station is decommissioned.
Philip J. Niddrie, Worcester's chief development officer, said workers will be on site as early as next week to assess the asbestos situation at the station.
He said the structure will be razed in October and work on the hotel could begin shortly after.
Mr. Niddrie said pilings could be in the ground for the hotel sometime before winter sets in.
"A lot will depend on the weather," he said.
When plans for the hotel first surfaced, firefighters said the demolition of the station would reduce downtown fire coverage.
Chief Dio and city officials maintained, however, that firefighters from the Southbridge Street station and fire headquarters on Grove Street could do the job.
In May of 1974, the City Council authorized then-City Manager Francis J. McGrath to borrow $890,000 on a 20-year bond to build the station at 70 Central St.
The complex was to replace the School Street Station and the firehouse behind the old police headquarters on Waldo Street.
The contract was awarded to F.W. Madigan Co. Inc. and was built under the oversight of Fire Chief Edward F. Hackett.
The two-story colonial structure was built on a lot acquired from the Worcester Redevelopment Authority.
It originally housed Engine 1, Engine Company 16, Aerial Scope 1, the Rescue Squad, and the north end district chief.
The structure sat on 41 piles and was reinforced by a network of steel beams because of its close proximity to the underground Blackstone River.
It featured 18,000 square feet of floor space, three strategically placed slide poles, special racks for rubber gear, and overhead tanks to fill pumpers.
"I've tried to design the building with the convenience of the firefighters always in mind," said architect John S. Bilzerian in an interview with Worcester Telegram police reporter Ernest J. "Buzz" Gallagher, shortly before the station opened in October of 1975. "Many things through this structure are real time savers."
The special features, however, drew criticism from some quarters, including Mayor Israel Katz, who described the station as "elaborate."
Fargo Management will pay the city $1 million for the site.
Under the tax deal, Fargo will receive a 50 percent tax exemption on the increase in property value over the duration of the 20-year agreement.
That means the developer will save about $2.6 million in property taxes during that period. The city, meanwhile, will realize about $2.7 million in new tax revenue from the increase in property value.
The TIF is to go into effect July 1, 2005.
In 1989, developer Philip O. Shwachman was interested in obtaining the parcel for a garage, as part of his plans for the $100 million Liberty Square office complex.
As a bit of history/perspective, this station was first due to the Cold Storage Warehouse. It's closing, however, isn't a huge impact on fire protection as there's three-company stations about 1 mile north and 1 mile south of Central, and the immediate area around Central is mostly commercial occupancies. You have a stronger arguement that an Engine Company is needed downtown not for fire protection but for EMS first response (tall/big buildings = takes longer to get to the patient while their sprinklers keep fires in check). Chief's plan is to build a new station just outside of Downtown, a bit past where the Warehouse was on Franklin, that'll eventually fill the role of the old Central station plus retire a Victorian era station at the other end of Franklin Street.
) two weeks ago, and happened to see every piece of apparatus from Central AND Grove Street go charging up Highland in the general direction of the airport in rapid sucession. Quite impressive.... even the reserve ladder trucks with the un-covered tillers filling in as ladders 1 and 2!!! 
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