Firehouse project on track

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth Fire and EMS personnel will be responding out of a new firehouse on Sandusky Street next month as fire Chief Richard Metzger announced construction is slated to be completed on Sept. 1, with an open house scheduled for Sept. 13. "We will be ready to start serving out of the new station sometime soon after the 13th," Metzger said. "Between now and then, we will be moving our equipment over and getting it ready." The firehouse project is an approximately $3.5 million construction effort, scoped to build a new fire station for the village on Mary Fate Drive to replace the aging station on Portner Street. Simonson Construction, based out of Ashland, has been constructing the building since the groundbreaking began in September 2024. The new station will feature four drive-through equipment bays, three dedicated bedrooms, a community gathering room, a mezzanine, decontamination areas and safer personal equipment storage. The new station will also contain a museum space to display the department's Model A firetruck along with other local artifacts. An aging facility The current firehouse, built in the 1960s as a civil defense headquarters, is facing structural issues in addition to being unsuitable for modern fire equipment and tactics. "We are limited to the size of equipment we can get in this station safely," Metzger said. "Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to maneuver into the bays with the trucks. In the new station, we can stage our equipment much better." The new station will have a seemingly small but significant advantage over the old station: decontamination areas and a dedicated room to store their turnout gear, according to Metzger. "Now we come back from the fire and we dry our hoses and finish up from the call, then go home with all the remnants of the fire and take that into the house," he said. "The new station will allow us to decontaminate there. Also with having a dedicated room for our turnout gear, it's not absorbing the exhaust from the trucks. That's a big cause of cancer in firefighters." Since a groundbreaking ceremony in September, Ashland-based Simonson Construction Services has been working on the new 11,600-square-foot facility. How it was paid for The new firehouse is being completed without further financial burden to taxpayers, according to Metzger. The build is being financed by a $2.8 million grant from the Milliron Foundation and $600,000 from the state of Ohio's One-time Strategic Community Investment Fund, leaving the build phase of the project completely funded. Although construction of the building has been funded, the department is responsible for "moving and miscellaneous" expenses according to Metzger. The Plymouth Volunteer Firefighters' Association has set a fundraising goal of $70,000 to offset the expense. "It's going to take us about $70,000 to move our equipment, purchase furnishings, and there are some pieces of equipment we can't move ourselves — we need to call the manufacturer to do it," Metzger said. The Plymouth Volunteer Firefighters' Association has raised about $20,000 so far. Metzger reiterated the multi-generational usage plans for the new structure and reiterated the increased safety for the department. "This new station has been designed based on our current needs, as well as the future needs of our department by looking out many years ahead," Metzger said. "The almost 12,000 square foot, wood/steel hybrid structure will basically double our current space and provides what I consider to be a state-of-the-art facility with the safety of our firefighters being made the top priority." Donations may be mailed to: • Post Office Box 23 • Plymouth, OH 44865 They can also be made by contacting any member of the department. Any questions regarding the fundraising effort may be emailed to plymouthfireassoc@yahoo.com.