TIVOLI – It has been a little over a year since fire ravaged the Tivoli firehouse, destroying an ambulance and fire truck, and village and fire department officials would like to expand the building, which sustained heavy damage during the fire.
Insurance money – $669,000 – paid to rebuild the 35-year-old building and other insurance funds are covering a new ambulance and fire truck, both of which are being custom built.
Now, the village would like to raise $3 million to add a third bay and a second story to the building.
Mayor Joel Griffith said the addition would bring the facilities up to current standards.
“There are new cancer protection requirements for firefighters, which involves a lot of showers and washing of fire gear and there is more and more apparatus that the department has acquired and it’s an old building from 1985 and its too small,” he said. “There are no sleeping quarters so if we have something late at night and some of our volunteers need to catch 40 winks, they are literally sleeping in the trucks right now.”
The village plans to reach out to all potential funding sources including public officials in Washington, Albany, and even Tivoli’s favorite son and former mayor, Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.
The mayor acknowledged raising the money will be a challenging task because of the economic impacts of COVID-19.