Refurbish of Austintown station begins

By Elise Franco | February 27, 2011 at 12:05a.m.

AUSTINTOWN

The township’s most dated fire station is getting a state-of-the-art renovation thanks to more than $300,000 in federal money.

Andy Frost III, Austintown assistant fire chief, said in 2009 the department secured a $333,000 grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to update the part-time station on Raccoon Road.

Demolition began on the station in mid-December, but some of the exterior work has been on hold until better weather.

Frost said the station, which was built in 1959, was in dire need of updates and expansion.

“We’ve needed a new roof for eight or nine years, and the township is unable to pay for it,” he said. “We’re also renovating the existing inside, and everything will be updated.”

Lt. Bob Rodkey, who has worked at the station for 26 years, said the repairs are long overdue. Rodkey said among other things, the station’s cement driveway hasn’t been repaired at all during his time with the department and is full of holes.

“It’s not very bright, and it’s crowded,” he said. “It’s drafty and cold in the winter time. In the summer it’s extremely warm because it’s just so old, it’s just not energy efficient.”

Rodkey said the building, which also houses two Lane Ambulance employees on 24-hour shifts, leaves little room for personal space.

“We don’t have a lot of room or amenities that you would think of at a fire station where people have to live at 24-hours-per-day,” he said.

Frost said a two-story addition will be built on to the back of the station that will house male and female living quarters and bathrooms. He said a new kitchen with new appliances and cabinets also will be installed.

The department is auctioning off pieces of the original firehouse kitchen, built in the mid-1950s by Youngstown Kitchen Cabinet Co., Frost said. The auction is posted on the township’s website, www.austintowntwp.com.

The construction should take about five months, Frost said, and during that time, the 13 part-time firefighters are working out of the full-time Wickliffe station on Mahoning Avenue.

“I don’t foresee the relocation being a problem or them having any delays in response time,” he said.

Frost said the township’s newest ladder truck, purchased with a $500,000 federal grant, will operate out of the Raccoon Road station once it reopens.