GREENFIELD — As the city moves closer to demolishing the fire station on Main Street to make way for a new library, the Fire Department is looking to preserve the history of the 85-year-old building.
“We have a tremendous amount of fire history here in this building,” said Fire Chief Robert Strahan. “And all those items that we have are going to be taken and preserved.”
Among the artifacts that will be salvaged from the fire station are the cupola and weather vane, a 1936 cornerstone, the copper downspouts and decorative leader, and the 9/11 memorial, according to the architectural plans for the new station.
“The big one is the bell tower,” Strahan said. “The cupola will be taken off the station and preserved, and somehow incorporated in the (new) building or as a memorial next to the building.”
According to Fire Station Building Committee Chair David Singer, construction of the temporary fire station on Hope Street is on track for the department to move into by mid- to late August. Once moved out, the building will be razed, making way for construction of the new library.
The city expects to use the temporary station for about two years, Singer previously said, as it looks toward building a permanent facility at the open-air market at the corner of Main Street and Coombs Avenue. There are three structures on the property — the greenhouse, an apartment building to the left and another building on Coombs Avenue — that would eventually need to be demolished.
The question of how certain historic elements of the current Fire Station will be preserved has come up at Fire Station Building Committee meetings.
“There are many, many artifacts here in the building that will be saved and put on display at the new firehouse,” Strahan said. “That includes our 1850 hand pumper and multiple pieces of history we have throughout the building.”
Strahan said the department is hoping a local business may be able to temporarily house the hand pumper and “preferably display it, if possible” until it’s ready to move into the new station for display.
The department also has the Paul Revere bell, he said, which used to hang in the bell tower but is now in a case at Greenfield Community College.
“That will be incorporated into a display at the new fire station,” Strahan said.
Singer, who was unsure if there is a financial cost to salvaging parts of the building prior to demolition, said he thinks it’s a “wonderful idea” that the history is being preserved.
“I think it’s important for us to maintain our city’s history,” he said. “We did it when the Ford dealership was torn down (in 2015). We saved the historic pieces and put them on the parking garage. This is consistent with treasuring our history.”
Although not all of the details have been worked out in terms of how and where different artifacts will be incorporated into the new structure — or instead displayed for viewing — Strahan said he’s happy to be preserving pieces of the city’s history, some of which came from previous stations and date back as many as 150 years.
“All of our historical items within the building — I’m happy we’re going to be preserving them,” he said. “There’s a lot of history that goes with this department.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne