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For nearly two decades, City of Beacon leaders spoke of a goal to update and consolidate the city’s three fire stations: Beacon Engine, Mase Hook & Ladder and Tompkins Hose.

After over 17 years of planning, studies and architectural design, they broke ground on construction of the $14 million renovation in June 2023.

Just under a year and a half later, the new brick-façade fire station is complete, now serving as the sole fire station, as well as the headquarters for the City of Beacon Fire Department.

City of Beacon Fire Chief Tom Lucchesi, has been a firefighter for over 27 years, retiring from his assistant chief position at City of Newburgh Fire Department in October 2023. He began working as Beacon’s fire chief in April 2023 before taking on the job full time.

Since then, Lucchesi has been proactive and involved in the completion of the new firehouse, handling procurement for the project and working with the project manager on a daily basis. Even still, when the firehouse was done, he said, “it’s hard to put into words seeing the project come to completion.”

“For the last year, this has been the overwhelming majority of my focus,” Lucchesi said.

Taking in the finalized project and seeing the firefighters working out of the firehouse now has been a wonderful experience for Lucchesi. There’s been a “huge impact on moral,” he said. The firefighters under his command are excited, not only about the new facility, but to finally be able to work together under one roof.

“Before, they were in separate firehouses by themselves,” he said, so now, being able to have more camaraderie with one another, like having their meals together, is having a “really positive effect.”

How three stations were combined into one state-of-the-art facility
Mid Hudson Construction Management built the new firehouse, and D.J. Sadowski, director of operations and a 20-year member of the Hyde Park Fire Department, made sure the project to update the 1980s fire station, went smoothly.

The project, “was a complete gut renovation,” Sadowski said.

The firehouse — directly off of Walcott Avenue, otherwise known as 9D — was stripped down to its steel beams.

Structural demolition on the existing firehouse, Sadowski noted, made it seem as though there was a brand new building going up. “All you saw was red iron and floors, essentially that’s it,” he said.

While the existing footprint of the firehouse, not including the total working area, was about 6,000 square feet, the updated station includes an approximately 5,500-square-foot addition and meets all ADA standards.

There are three new, larger apparatus bays that look toward Walcott Avenue. One of the three old bays now serves as office space, with the other two used to house the station’s ambulance and the chief’s car.

The apparatus bays also have an modern exhaust system that ties directly to the exhaust of the rigs, decreasing carbon monoxide and diesel fumes in the bays. As firefighters clear the door and the rig pulls out, the exhaust system automatically pops off. Hot, warm and cold decontamination areas in the station also ensure firefighters don’t bring contaminants with them into the living space or back to their homes.

“It leads to a much healthier environment, not only for the firefighters at work, but they’re no longer or less likely to bring contaminants home to their loved ones and family members,” Lucchesi said.

How Beacon’s new fire station is energy efficient.
During construction Sadowski and the MHCM team ensured this building would meet the needs of the firefighters, increase public safety and align with the City of Beacon’s goals for sustainability by incorporating energy-efficient systems and green building materials.

With the exception of the generator, it is a zero-fossil fuels, all-electric firehouse, using geothermal heat with 21 geothermal wells.

There’s also radiant floor heating in the bays, along with a new training facility in the back of the fire apparatus bays, plus upgraded living quarters.

Whether firefighters are helping to deliver a baby, pumping water out of basements or putting out fires, Lucchesi said, this facility will aid in the increased responsibilities fire departments have taken on over the past 30 years with improved readiness and efficiency.

Beacon’s new fire station: A new era for public safety
The project was anticipated to finish in September, and there was over a month’s worth of delays, but the MHCM team was still able to finish the project in a timely manner.

In his 30-year career in construction, Sadowski said working with the City of Beacon, and more specifically, Lucchesi’s department, was one of the best partnerships. Everyone involved was reasonable and accommodating, and focused on getting the job done.

“It’s nice to sit on the same side of the table, to use a term that we use here in the construction world, with your client,” Sadowski said.

This project wouldn’t have been able to be completed in the time frame it did, and within their budget, Sadowski said, if it weren’t for the city’s and the fire department’s involvement.

This new station changes how the City of Beacon Fire Department responds to calls, with all career firefighters on staff using one central location. Lucchesi said that will lead to more “effective operations,” increasing public safety and emergency response in the city.

The completion of the new firehouse marks a new era of public safety in the City of Beacon, an improvement its leaders believe will have a direct impact on the local residents they serve.

For more information on Mid Hudson Construction Management, and its expertise in the Hudson Valley, please visit www.midhudsoncm.com or call 845-298-9230.

About Mid Hudson Construction Management
Mid Hudson Construction Management (MHCM) is a Hudson Valley-based commercial construction company offering pre-construction services, value engineering, construction management, general contracting, and an in-house sitework division. MHCM also provides pre-engineered metal buildings and is an authorized builder of CECO Building Systems. Headquartered in Poughkeepsie, NY, MHCM has earned its reputation over the last 20-plus years with successful projects such as Central Hudson, the City of Beacon Fire Station, Hudson Valley Hospice, the Kingston Library, Sunbelt Rentals, Mount Saint Mary College – Guzman Hall among others.

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Poughkeepsie Journal: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com