Opinion

Federal grant worth chasing for firehouse at Fuller School site


Published: July 1, 2009

The idea of placing a new Gloucester Central Fire Station next to Fuller School is far from a done deal.

In fact, at this point, it is little more than a gleam in the eyes of city officials — dependent on, among other things, the city landing a $5 million federal grant that is far from a done deal, and really something of a longshot, in its own right.

But it is a proposal well worthy of further discussion. And the timing is right, not just because of an approaching deadline to apply for federal stimulus money for fire station construction, but because our financially beleaguered city desperately needs a new station.

Central Fire Station on School Street, built in 1924, is "functionally obsolete," not centrally located and would be difficult and expensive to rehabilitate, in the words of Community Development Director Sarah Buck.

The city's ad hoc Facilities Committee has also made replacement of the station a priority, noting its problems with space, heating, leaks and that modern fire truck designs now exceed the size of its vehicle bays. Indeed, conditions at the station hit a new low the previous winter, when the balky heating system led firefighters to stay warm with a generous use of space heaters in the firehouse — hardly a symbol of fire safety.

The proposed new fire station location will not please everybody — its construction would eliminate the Charles Thomas ballfield, and some residents complain that the city needs more, not fewer, athletic fields for its youth.

But that is a problem that, while important, should not trump better fire safety for the city.

There are also some fears that the Fuller building might have to be revived as a full-time school, either because of further economic hardship in the continuing recession, or because the coming Gloucester Community Arts Charter School could force the closing of some smaller neighborhood schools. But School Committee members generally agreed with Mayor Carolyn Kirk on Monday that the benefits of a new station would outweigh possible "doomsday" scenarios — and, in reaching that conclusion, gave the city their OK to talk about the schools-owned site as a possible new firehouse site, as long as the city lands the federal grant.

Indeed, the Fuller ballfield site now under consideration has several important advantages.

First, the Fuller School building would not have to be demolished, so the groups that use it and its auditorium — including a preschool, the district administration, and auditorium regulars such as the Cape Ann Symphony — would not lose anything.

About 13 acres, it has plenty of space, and its central location would provide quicker access, through Blackburn Circle and Route 128, to virtually all corners of the city.

Finally, city officials are generally unanimous in their support of it. The mayor proposed it. The School Committee, which controls the parcel, has agreed to donate it to the city if the federal funding comes through. A City Council subcommittee has endorsed it. And the city's interim fire chief, Phil Dench, has called it the "ideal site" for a new station.

There will, obviously, be stiff competition for grant money. Carl Richardson, the city's new grants writer, said there will likely be thousands of applications, with only a few hundred approved.

But the fact that Gloucester has a site available, enjoys the support of local officials, and that the project would create construction jobs in a city struggling more than most in the recession, will work to its advantage. And the fact that the city has a hopelessly outdated facility — one that truly poses access problems that are a hazard to public safety — with no reasonable means of building a new one on its dime should certainly accentuate the need for federal assistance.

Yes, the idea of siting a station adjacent to Fuller School is barely in the talking stages. So neither city residents nor officials should raise their hopes — or fears.

But city leaders should start talking about a specific station proposal, and seek residents' input as to how it may fit into an overall pubic safety facilities plan. And city officials should enlist the help of both the state and federal legislative delegations to press the issue.

This idea may be a long shot, but this grant, and the potential it holds, is also a chance that is not likely to come again for a very long time. Gloucester should indeed give it — and this station site — its very best shot.