Village Hires Architect To Rebuild New Firehouse

The next step in rebuilding the aging main firehouse in Lindenhurst Village was taken recently as the village board hired an architect to design the new building.

According to Newsday, Riverhead-based Marty Sendlewski will design the new firehouse at a cost not to exceed $262,500.

Sendlewski is familiar with the Lindenhurst firehouse and the structural problems it faces. In June, Patch reported that Sendlewski was brought in to review the integrity of the building. Working with a committee appointed by Mayor Tom Brennan, the architect and committee members founds rusted steel girders and water logged soft spots in the firehouse’s roof. In addition, the brick façade is also unstable and has required scaffolding to keep residents safe.

Other problems include limited headroom in the bays causing the ambulances to go out the back, and narrow spacing between vehicles that make navigating the firehouse as firefighters prepare to head out on calls very tight and unsafe.

At a meeting in June, village officials said rebuilding the firehouse at its present location would keep taxpayer costs at a minimum. In addition, its central location also allows the fire department to best serve area residents, village officials said.

"The firehouse is centrally located, and with ambulance calls increasing each year, and the number of calls each year increasing, this just makes sense," Brennan said earlier this year. "It wouldn't be fair to move it too far north or too far south.”

According to LFD officials, the 243-member volunteer department answered 2,901 calls last year, and is on track to answer roughly 3,000 calls this year. The majority of calls are rescue calls, and average response time is 6:25 versus the Suffolk County average of 9:30.