Rosyln fire company to build new firehouse in Greenvale
The Roslyn Rescue Hook and Ladder Company has secured approvals to build a new firehouse at its location in Greenvale. Here, a picture of the station at 6 Locust St. Credit: Barry Sloan
The Roslyn Rescue Hook and Ladder Company has secured approvals to build a new firehouse in Greenvale, officials said.
Fire officials plan to build a 14,000-square-foot facility that would replace an existing 1,800-square-foot substation built in 1966. The station, on Locust Street, is too small and not in compliance with federal standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to plans filed with the Town of North Hempstead.
Construction is expected to begin in the fall and cost up to $6.5 million, said Capt. Jon Sendach, a department spokesman.
The North Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance for the new firehouse in a 4-0 vote at its April 6 meeting. North Hempstead officials say the plan involves the demolition of the existing firehouse and a two-story single-family home and a detached garage.
Sendach said the company has needed more space since it sold one of its three stations in 2009 because it was landmarked by the Village of Roslyn and could not be renovated or expanded. The new firehouse provides a room for volunteers to train and to stay during snow and rainstorms.
“There wasn’t a place you could pull up a chair,” Sendach said, likening the existing facility to “a garage.”
“To the degree we’re able to make the fire stations comfortable for volunteers to gather, we reduce response times,” Sendach said of the volunteer firefighters, who often respond to fires from their homes or offices. “We want them to stay at their stations.”
The department had difficulty fitting fire apparatus into the station and parked trucks outside. The new station would fit six trucks and other vehicles in garages.
The company covers 16 square miles in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, including the villages of North Hills, Roslyn, East Hills, Roslyn Estates, Brookville, Old Westbury, Flower Hill and Roslyn Harbor.
Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
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