FROM BEER WAREHOUSE TO DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS
MANAGEMENT
Some departments recondition apparatus. In Poughkeepsie, they reconditioned a building.
A former beer warehouse now serves as the new district headquarters for the Arlington Fire District of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. What seemed like a wild idea at first eventually solved a number of problems.
Both the fire district and the beer distributing company had realized that their current buildings couldn’t accommodate their growing needs. The beer company built another building and put the old warehouse up for sale.
The old fire district headquarters had been built for two pieces of apparatus in 1922, when the average number of calls per year was only 200. Then a major IBM manufacturing complex moved in. In 1950 three more bays were added, but it wasn’t enough for the long term. With the addition of an ambulance, a rescue vehicle and a squad, the district was forced to park one vehicle outside since 1976.
Meanwhile, the number of calls per year had increased to 1900. An effort began to acquire property for a new headquarters. Property was at a premium, however, and nothing was found for a while.
Fire Commissioners Richard Hellman, Roger Hanlon, Frank Odell and Cornelius Garrison, and Chairman Bill Doyle began looking at the beer warehouse. They asked an architect to draw plans for a conversion.
District fire fighters opposed the plans at first and asked for consideration of some of their ideas. Finally, a workable floor plan was agreed upon and the job of selling it to the taxpayers began. Opposition was feared, especially since the price tag was over $1 million. But cooperation between the three groups was excellent, and the referendum passed by a large majority.. Begun in May 1981, the conversion called for six bays, with two bays allowing for double stacking for at least eight vehicles. Also included was a modern dispatch center, various offices, a spacious meeting room and a kitchen. A mezzanine provides space for a dormitory, combination lounge and library, ready room and a small storage room as well as a 28X43-foot area for future use. Total area is over 15,500 square feet.
Captain Art Rose played a major role in making sure the final product met district standards. The firehouse brass pole that was such an integral part of the old headquarters was positioned in its new home. With morale high, we were finally ready to move in last May 7.
