City Council Talks Land Acquisition for Central Firehouse

The plans are drawn, the specifications are in order, and even the color palette is chosen for the City of Peekskill’s planned Central firehouse project. However, the project cannot move forward until the city acquires the land on which they plan to build the 36,000 square foot building, expected to cost about $16 million.

At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting the city council met with its architect Bob Mitchell, who reported that he is “99 percent” done with everything except for the civil engineering portion of the project, for which they need access to the properties.

“Land acquisition is the only thing holding us up,” Mayor Mary Foster said.

For the last year, the with the two owners of the properties on Main and Broad streets, on which they plan to build the firehouse. They have still not reached an agreement with Tony Huang, owner of Crossroads Plaza, or Gerrado Escandon, owner of 1141 Main Street, the white house on the corner of Main and Broad streets. The city bought the third property needed for the firehouse in September, in late October.

The council went into closed executive session to talk about “real estate acquisition” around 7 p.m. during last night’s work session. Foster and Finn have both said numerous times that the city did not want to use eminent domain, a condemnation process that claims property in the name of public service, to acquire the property.

But, if the owners refuse to sell, the city will be forced to use eminent domain, a legal process that would delay owners from receiving payments for their property and construction of the firehouse. The owners would still get market price for their properties.

Before the executive session, Mitchell also told the council that he will need to hire a clerk of the works for the project, which will be an additional cost. He also presented the color and material scheme chosen for the firehouse. The design will include oak doors with glass, bricks salvaged from the Centennial Hose Firehouse from North Water Street that collapsed while being moved, and a mannequin of a 19^th Century firefighter coming down the firehouse pole, among many other features.

The mayor asked if the city fire department had been involved with the planning and Havranek and Mitchell confirmed it was.

“It looks nice, really very professional…and it seems like materials are very durable so maintenance will be easier,” Foster said.

Following the presentation on the color and material palate, the council went into executive session to discuss the land acquisition.

Check back the Patch for updates on the firehouse project.