Residents get first look at proposed replacement of 160-year-old Tilton fire station

TILTON — Residents in the Tilton/Northfield Fire District got a first look at a plan for a new fire station on Sanborn Road, and an expansion of the Park Street station, both which would ultimately need to be approved by voters at the district meeting in March.

About two dozen people gathered at the Center Station, pushing 160 years old, to hear a presentation by Chief Sean Valovanie and Jason LaCombe, a principal for SMP Architecture. The district fire commissioners were also present, as well as Barrett Salta and Barry Beauregard, of Bonnette, Page & Stone Construction Management.

About 16,990 square feet of new construction is proposed, bringing existing space to 21,790 square feet. The newly built Sanborn station would serve as the headquarters if the project is approved.

The proposal includes an 11,250-square-foot main station on Sanborn Road, with administrative offices, a training and community room, a residential area, room for four apparatus, space for recreation, and shared parking with the police station.

The Park Street station’s existing 4,800 square feet would remain intact, and on the property there would be about 3,450 square feet of usable space added, with usage designed to be a “substation.”

The project includes 1,400 square feet of mezzanine space, and another 890 square feet of basement space on Park Street.

History

For nearly a quarter-century, Tilton/Northfield Fire District leaders have wanted to make improvements and expansions to the fire stations to keep up with needs of the community.

Proposals have been presented since 2002. Between 2021 and 2025, a committee worked on a plan that called for 27,468 square feet of new construction, split between the Park and Sanborn stations, totaling $21.5 million. This price tag was widely rejected, and the committee started again.

“We’ve had to go back to the drawing board a lot here,” Valovanie said, noting the commissioners opted to leave it off of last year’s warrant.

Valovanie commended the committee for the “tremendous amount of work” that laid the foundation for the current proposal. They worked to lower the costs, but still accomplish the goals needed. He said aside from the exact layout, much of their work went into the current plan.

The scope was reduced by using existing space. The new plan adds to Park Street instead of building an entirely new station there. It also removes the hose and training tower previously proposed, as well as using smaller training and living areas, and reducing the size of bathrooms and dormitories.

The new plan also simplified construction by removing the heated apparatus apron and drive-through apparatus bays. A major cost savings was shifting from CMU block to wood and steel construction.

Valovanie said it's too early for ballpark price figures, but with a reduction of about 10,000 square feet from the previous plan, it should be “significantly less.”

Need for upgrades

Valovanie said the upgrades are needed for public safety, and something directly for the residents of the communities in the district.

“This is your fire station,” Valovanie said Tuesday night. “This is your fire department. Without you guys, this doesn’t happen.”

Valovanie gave the history of the 40-year-old Park Street Station. It has no living quarters, and is basically a “big garage” to store apparatus. The building has a decontamination space and small bathroom, but there is not much more to it. Valovanie said there are some repairs needed, including drainage, windows, garage doors, siding and concrete. The intention is to spruce up what’s needed, and expand.

“We kind of decided that this building still has some useful life left,” Valovanie said.

The Center Street station is about a 160 years old. Valovanie isn't exactly sure when it was built. To demonstrate its age, he showed a black and white photograph of four women riding past the fire station on a horse and buggy from the early 1900s.

It's the original fire department. Despite a small addition in the 1920s, it's old, and no longer fits the needs of the department and a growing community. He said they invited the crowd to the station to see it in person. He said it's his favorite building in the world, but its time is up.

“I’ve spent 20 years, almost a third of my life, in this building. I’ve had more fun, more heartache, more everything in this building than any other building I’ve ever been in,” Valovanie said. “I’m going to cry the day it goes away, but it’s time to say goodbye to this building.”

The building’s stairs are insufficient and it doesn't have accessible entry, and there is no separation between the living and working spaces. He said there are diesel trucks going in and out, and while there is a vent, it isn’t perfect. If there was ever a fire in the station, there are only two sprinkler heads over the stairwell.

He said it's difficult for the fire department to work out of this building, calling it “limited.”

“There’s really just not much functional space here.”

There have been studies about why firefighters get sick with cancer and other diseases over the past two decades. Valovanie said it can be attributed to gear and its cleaning.

“We need safe spaces to do that in,” Valovanie said.

He said there is no dedicated decontamination space, and no effective separation of clean and contaminated areas. The apparatus bay is directly connected to living and working areas.

Valovanie showed a picture of the tight confines of the space where they clean their gear, and noted the inadequacy of space can lead to long-term health concerns.

“They’ve shown over the years that that’s really how firefighters are getting sick,” he said. “We really need to provide a better space for them.”

Valovanie said designing a building around the health and safety of firefighters is crucial in making sure they avoid major health issues.

He also talked about the operational limits of the building, saying there are severe foundational issues and limited usable space. Electrical upgrades have been done over the years, piecemeal.

He also said the department ends up paying for fire trucks to fit with the station, and not the other way around.

“The doors aren’t high enough to fit a modern fire apparatus, so we have to design the truck to fit in here,” he said.

Valovanie said there is limited access to the road, and it's not safe when pulling out of the station.

“This building just doesn’t suit our needs anymore.”

Valovanie said his biggest complaint about current conditions working out of Central Street is not having a second ambulance. The department owns three ambulances, with two at Park Street and one at Center Street.

Sometimes a second ambulance is needed more than once a day. Firefighters currently get in the fire truck and drive to Park Street, get into the ambulance housed there, and respond to the call.

Moving as quickly and safely as possible still takes about six minutes, which increases response time.

“That’s probably the biggest reason,” Valovanie said.

The land was chosen for cost and coverage. The fire district owns land on Park Street, on the southern end of the village, and he said having stations at Sanborn Road and Park Street encompasses the village and the communities.

“We felt that a two-station design, if we couldn’t have it dead in the middle of town right here, that those two locations would provide a great operational response district.”

Public comments

The Park Street expansion calls for construction spread out around the property. Iris Ianno, of Tilton, asked LaCombe why there weren’t plans to add a second story. LaCombe said this was due to cost, saying structurally, stairs are less efficient, and it would be more square footage.

“A second story with buildings of this scale doesn’t make sense,” LaCombe said.

Marjorie Bonneville, of Tilton, asked if companies like Amazon coming into town will be paying their fair share. Valovanie said they pay property taxes based on assessed value, and that should contribute. She asked if the department gets an adequate amount currently, and Valovanie said they have a successful operation, but the goal is to run the department “as lean as possible.”

Bonneville said she has traveled around the state and seen other fire stations, and Tilton/Northfield really needs something “more up-to-date.”

“I hope the project goes forward,” she said.

Bonneville wasn’t the only one.

“Hopefully, this is the year,” Laconia Deputy Fire Chief Scott Lewandowski, of Northfield, said, as he left the meeting.

The next steps are for BPS and SMP to assemble a total project budget. There is a budget review session with fire commissioners scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Valovanie believes there will ultimately be two warrant articles, which will require a vote at the Tilton/Northfield Fire District meeting on March 15.

A second informational session about the project will take place at the Park Street station at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7.