CHESHIRE, Mass. — The fire station's meeting/training room is closed off because of concerns of a potential structural collapse.

 

Over the years, the fire station has had one problem after another and now officials are concerned about the room's structural integrity, deciding to close it last Thursday until it can be evaluated by a structural engineer. 

 

The training space hadn't been painted in more than two decades so officials decided to give it a bit of a "facelift," Fire Chief Thomas Francesconi said. 

 

However, this small project exposed something much more critical — the north wall appeared to be shifting away from the large steel I-beam. 

 

Upon further examination of the area, several larger issues stood out — including a large crack running up the concrete block wall above the bay door, a roughly 2-inch dip in the floor, and a shift in the exterior wall that has left it uneven.

 

There were too many things happening to not err on the side of caution, said Francesconi. Now that the area is exposed, this is the time to get it assessed to ensure that the wall's not moving or buckling, said Corey McGrath, department of public works director.

 

Around 2010, a company dug up around the station's foundation and installed support for the building. During that time, the contractors observed the north side of the building, the area believed to be shifting, was sinking into the ground, Francesconi said. 

 

Meetings and training are being held in the apparatus bay, which requires the department to move the vehicles, or in offsite locations until an engineer confirms the room is safe, he said. 

 

This wouldn't be the first time the station's structure was compromised. Several years ago, a main supporting beam collapsed in Francesconi's office, crushing the walls between the office, women's bathroom, and the day room. 

 

"Thankfully, none of us were in the station at the time …I shudder to think what would have happened to them. They would have been physically injured. There's no doubt about it," Francesconi said.

 

"Because the huge wooden carrying beam was actually on the floor, touching the floor, and it destroyed the whole ceiling from my office, women's room, part of the men's room, and into the shower room. 

 

"The ceiling collapsed, the walls were buckled, everything so they had to fix all of that."

 

This is just one example of the "Band-Aid" repairs being done in the station as problems continue to arise. 

 

Other recent repairs include laying down concrete to prevent the apparatus from sinking into the ground, replacing a failed boiler (needed to keep water in the tanker and apparatus from freezing) and installing two large commercial dehumidifiers to prevent the bay's concrete floor from sweating, a condition that posed a safety risk and accelerated corrosion on the bottoms of the apparatus.

 

An engineering report completed years ago estimated roughly $1.3 million just to repair existing station deficiencies — a figure that did not include upgrades or expansion, Francesconi said. 

 

Town established an ad hoc Public Safety Complex Committee like several other communities, to address the problems it has in the fire and police stations, coupled with the constraints of limited space and changing of modern day public safety requirements.

 

The current fire station is a former auto service garage built in the 1930s and renovated for the Fire Department in 1986. The Police Department is still in the small annex at the old Town Hall. 

 

Remnants of the former automotive pits that were filled with concrete resulted in uneven bay floors, which is a safety hazard, 

 

The committee's next recommended step is to hire an owner's project manager to translate the stations' needs into code-compliant designs and cost estimates so residents can make an informed decision.

 

"We haven't really made a move on it, not because of [lack of] interest. It's just because other things are taking everybody's time, but that's the next step," Francesconi said. 

 

"I think this latest issue with our training room really highlights the fact that we got to come up with some kind of decision — do we fix our current station and do the repairs that are needed, or do we move to a new building?" 

 

If the departments were to get a new building, the new boilers would be able to come with them. 

 

Francesconi emphasized that the process in addressing the needs of the stations will remain fully transparent and community-driven, with no decisions being made behind closed doors. 

 

"It's all going to be transparent. It's all going to be brought to the town so they have a say in what happens with it. But, we have to deal with these issues, I think, sooner rather than later, especially with this current one," he said. 

 

"Heaven only knows what's going to be said about the structural I-beam. We may have to make a decision sooner rather than later."