Pa. city gets $2M grant for bigger, safer fire hall

By Tom Knapp
The Intelligencer Journal/New Era

LANCASTER, Pa. — When Chief Ron Nolt received a rejection slip from Washington, D.C., last June, he thought plans for building a new Lafayette Fire Hall were off the table.

But he got a call in late September that turned that frown upside down.

U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts joined Nolt at the fire hall Monday afternoon to announce a federal stimulus grant to Lafayette for $2,285,000.

"We got it," Nolt said Monday. "We went from disappointed to elated pretty quickly."

That means Lafayette Fire Company, which serves East Lampeter Township, will be able to proceed with construction of a new, larger and safer fire hall.

"We're going to be able to finalize our drawings and begin the bidding process," Nolt said. "We hope to break ground in the spring."

The money will come from a $210 million fund — part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act — administered by the federal Emergency Management Agency and earmarked for shovel-ready fire department construction projects, Nolt said.

The Lafayette chief said that more than 7,500 departments had applied for funds nationwide; just over 100 departments were approved for funding.

"We had actually gotten a rejection notice back in June," Nolt said. "Then we got a call in September that they were wrapping up the program and had a few dollars left over. We were right on the edge, so we were included."

The grant requires a $2 million match from Lafayette, much of which already has been raised through private fundraising efforts, Nolt said.

"And we'll be starting the public phase of the capital campaign very shortly," he said.

Nolt said the department has to come up with a little more than $700,000 to lock in the grant.

The new station will be built behind the existing hall at 1836 Lincoln Highway East, on land already owned by the company, Nolt said. Once the new hall is completed, the old one will be sold.

The new building will be set back from Lincoln Highway, he said, so engines will be able to drive through the building rather than back in from the busy Route 462 highway.

The building will be "green" certified, featuring solar panels and low-emission building materials.

Because of the larger capacity, Nolt said, the department for the first time in many years will be able to house all its emergency apparatus under one roof. Also, firefighters won't have to move one vehicle to get to another.

In addition to being shovel-ready, Nolt said, the project was selected largely because of the safety issue on Lincoln Highway and because "it increases our response efficiencies."

Copyright 2010 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.