Work ready to start on Potowomut fire station

John Howell
Posted 10/30/14

Work has started on a Potowomut Fire Station, ending decades of discussion of whether the neighborhood is being adequately served, and achieving a personal goal of Chief Edmund Armstrong.

Chief …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Work ready to start on Potowomut fire station

Posted

Work has started on a Potowomut Fire Station, ending decades of discussion of whether the neighborhood is being adequately served, and achieving a personal goal of Chief Edmund Armstrong.

Chief Armstrong said the station would be operational by this time next year, as officials, the contractor and the architect of the $2.5 million station with community meeting room and police substation gathered at the site of the former Potowomut School.

Glenn R. Ahlborg, of the Ahlborg Construction Co., said the company would not only strive to meet that deadline but also try to surpass it.

“This has been a long road,” said Mayor Scott Avedisian. Naming members of the committee who looked at uses of the elementary school after it closed, including members of the Board of Public Safety, Councilman Steve Merolla and others, Avedisian said the project has brought together a lot of people.

“Chief Armstrong has made this a top priority,” he added. And when finished, he said, the station “will bring full fire protection to Potowomut and Bay Ridge.”

For decades, the city has depended on East Greenwich to answer fire and rescue calls under an annual contract now costing $360,000. Warwick Fire also responds to Potowomut calls, but because the nearest station is on Cowesett Road, they are not always first on the scene.

Under Armstrong’s plan, one of the two companies now stationed next to Aldrich Junior High School plus the equipment would be relocated to Potowomut. The coverage areas of each station would be redefined without compromising the level of protection and at no added cost to the taxpayer, according to the chief. In fact, the chief envisions not only saving the $360,000 paid East Greenwich but also generating an additional $400,000 in revenues, with rescue runs to East Greenwich and North Kingstown and leases to cell phone companies on the station tower.

But, while the financial viability of the station made sense, building it within the $2 million bond approved by voters in 2004 isn’t to be. Merolla traced the history of trying to locate a station site and how various uses for the school had been proposed after it closed.

After the study committee recommended use of the school as a fire station, architect Mark Saccoccio studied the feasibility of converting portions of the building to the station. In the end, it was deemed more cost effective to demolish the building and build a new one.

The initial round of bids exceeded $3 million and the plans were revised to delete its proposed use as a secondary emergency command center and for an alternative bid deleting the community room.

A second round of bids, while lower, all exceeded the bond amount. Earlier this month, the City Council approved the administration’s recommendation to go ahead with the Ahlborg bid of $2,587,000 with added funds coming from projected budget savings.

Merolla celebrated the start of construction as the path to providing improved fire service to Potowmut at a savings to the taxpayer.

As construction progresses, Armstrong said crews would be on the lookout for the school time capsule. It was thought to be at the base of the school flagpole, but it wasn’t there. Architectural and decorative elements of the former school have been saved and are to be incorporated into the new station’s design.

Comments

1 comment on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • Larrylawrence

    I asked this question in a previous post and will ask it again,,,,,where is the 400,000 in revenue going to come from. How many vehicles will be stationed here, it seems that something is missing either more staff and additional vehicles or the "truth" is being stretched to make certain people look good.

    Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Report this