Towanda Fire Dept. holding open house at its fire station, following major renovations
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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN Towanda Fire Department President Diane Sheets and Chief Bill Roof stand in the Towanda Fire Station, where major renovations were recently completed.
BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN
TOWANDA - The Towanda Fire Department will hold an open house from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, to show the public the Towanda Fire Station at 3 Elm St., where major renovations were recently completed.
"A lot of people don't know what we have here" in the Towanda Fire Station, said Bill Roof, chief of the Towanda Fire Department.
The open house will include light refreshments and tours of the fire station by members of the fire department.
The Towanda Fire Station includes a social hall that seats 185 people, and which can be rented by the public for weddings, parties or any special occasion, Towanda fire officials said.
The fire station also includes a commercial-type kitchen next to the social hall, a weight room, a lounge, two small offices, a radio room, new restrooms, and a garage that holds seven fire trucks and other vehicles.
The borough had purchased the building in 2004 to use as a fire station.
Prior to 2004, the building housed the Towanda Tire & Service Center Inc., which was an automobile repair shop.
The renovations, which began in 2004 and took place over several years, involved gutting the interior of the building and completely rebuilding the interior.
The upgrades included ripping out the interior walls and installing new interior walls, ceilings, insulation, tile floors, plumbing and heating systems, and rewiring the building, Towanda fire officials said. The roof was also repaired and re-sealed.
The part of the project that created the kitchen was completed in the past year, Roof said.
The social hall can be rented separately by the public, or it can be rented in combination with the kitchen, Roof said.
The creation of the Towanda Fire Station culminated a search that lasted for many decades for a single location to house all of the Towanda Fire Department's trucks and equipment.
"In the past, we had multiple fire companies (in Towanda) with multiple fire stations," Roof said. "Now we have one fire department (for Towanda) and one fire station."
The renovations at the Towanda Fire Station cost more than $400,000.
The large majority of the cost of the renovations was paid by the Towanda Firemen's Relief Association, Roof said.
The funds spent by the Towanda Firemen's Relief Association to purchase and renovate the building came from a state tax on out-of-state insurance companies that sell fire insurance in Pennsylvania, Roof said.
"That (state tax revenue) is something we have been saving for years and years," Roof said.
The Towanda Fire Department will also be holding an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast for the public from 7-11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Towanda Fire Station, Roof said.
The proceeds from the breakfast will go to the fire department.
"We plan on doing more (such breakfasts) in the future, Roof said.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
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