Maybe it was the peeling paint, maybe the corroded shower stalls ? or maybe the prospect of the roof caving in at the 113-year-old East Baltimore fire station.
Engine Company 41 was known as a rough assignment, and the joke now goes that nobody wanted it.
Then came the renovation.
It took a year, but the Highlandtown station in the 500 block of South Conkling reopened Monday morning with new carpeting and windows, a stainless steel refrigerator, central air conditioning ? and, yes, a new roof.
Just about everything was replaced, officials said, at a cost of more than $500,000, most of which was donated by area businesses.
“You migrate to a place that you call home, and this was my home,” said Battalion Commander Raymond Devilbiss. “Nobody wanted to be here before this,” but there could “be a waiting list now.”
Fire officials hope the Highlandtown project, the first renovation in the department?s Adopt a Firehouse program, will lay the groundwork for renovations at the other estimated 10 to 15 stations that need work in the city. The program invites area businesses to invest in the renovations.
“A lot of these repairs are essential,” said Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright. “Would you allow running water to come onto your head at home?”
Living conditions at Highlandtown had been uncomfortable for a while, Devilbiss said. “We had tile floors with half the tiles missing.”
But it took the threat of a roof collapse to speed the renovations along. Now those missing tiles are replaced by new carpeting that leads to a revamped patio out back, with a bright red picnic table and a brick barbecue.
Many of the materials were found and reused, said Fred Struever, whose company, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., led the renovation efforts. Granite slabs were fixed up and put on the barbecue, he said.
“You?ve got to be resourceful,” Struever said. “It?s for a good cause.”
Department officials came out Monday morning to celebrate the reopening and tour the new station while munching on hot dogs and sandwiches.
But Lt. Jake VanGelder said he was eager just to get back to work in his old home a year after moving to a nearby station during the renovation.
“It?s hard to believe it?s the same place,” VanGelder said.
