LFD Holds Forum Tonight about Main Firehouse Repairs

Village residents are invited to the community forum set for at the Lindenhurst Fire Department’s main house to hear about the state of the house and the repairs that need to be done.

The is located on South Wellwood Avenue. There, residents will hear from Mayor Tom Brennan and new Lindenhurst Fire Department Chief Jim Gallagher, as well as other village and fire department officials.

There will also be a presentation by the engineers who inspected the main house and turned in a report to the village several months ago indicating the house is in severe disrepair.

Residents will have a chance to ask questions and discuss options regarding the future of the firehouse.

They were previously invited to the allowing them inspect the main firehouse and ask questions about its condition.

“We are now seeing serious structural and mechanical issues that must be addressed and will require the village to make major decisions regarding the future of this facility,” village and fire department officials said in a inviting the public to the community forum and open house.

The outlining the issues was prepared by ECG Engineering, LLC in Smithtown and completed at the beginning of January this year after conducting several inspections starting in November. It’s posted on the village’s website.

It also caused Mayor Brennan to form a committee to focus on the repairs, by Lindenhurst Patch, and take another look at making the sorely needed repairs.

“We want to go out to the public, so we want the committee to have a few community members, so they can give us their insight, and take a look at the engineer’s report,” the mayor previously told Patch.

The engineers’ recommendations would cause the village to obtain a bond, but the mayor doesn’t want to do it without community support.

“We could go and get the bond, but it’s a large commitment, so we’d like to get the village behind us,” said Brennan. “And I want the building to last the next 80 years.”

Currently, the main house has protective scaffolding supporting the crumbling brick façade that guards the public against the potential of loose debris falling from the roof.

The firehouse was built in 1923 and damaged by a major fire in 1978, and reconstructed in 1979-1980. It’s one of four houses that contain six companies the 125-year-old has in the village.