Fire Stations Taking on New Looks

Two of East Providence’s fire stations continue to take on new looks.

Renovation and repair work on Fire Station 1 on Broadway, the oldest station in the city, and Fire Station 4 on Wampanoag Trail, has become even more visible as the summer moves forward.

Work on the first floor at Station 1 was expected to start by the end of last week, said Acting Fire Chief Oscar Elmasian.

The goal after work is done there to make it a temporary dormitory is to vacate the firefighters from the second-floor dormitory in the station into the former administrative offices on the first floor. 

The contractor will then begin gutting out the second-floor sleeping quarters as the new administrative offices on the second floor take shape. The former administrative offices will then be used for storage and emergency medical services.

The renovations to Station 1 are the first since the 1930s, Elmasian said.

Work at Station 4 is expected to end before work at Station 1 – perhaps in late September or early October. A whole new second floor for a dormitory and office space is being added as well as a new apparatus bay.

A geothermal well also is being dug. It will pump water for heating into the station from about 1,500 feet down, said Elmasian. 

The fire chief said the look of Station 4 has been designed to make it fit better into that residential neighborhood.

“It will be less institutional,” he said, “and more fitting for that neighborhood.” 

The radio tower also is being moved to the water tower at Kent Heights, Elmasian said. That will remove what has always been a bit of an eyesore to a spot with better reception to start with, he said.