Sep. 5—TROY — The city will have to pay 45 percent more that it expected to repair its 133-year-old Troy Fire Station 6 at Canal Avenue and Third Street after the contractor discovered that water damage requires extensive structural work.
The renovations at the firehouse, also known by its historic designation as the J.C. Osgood Fire House, were into their fourth week when the construction firm CD Perry reported that the basement concrete floors were deteriorating and the steel supports for the building are corroded.
The firehouse was built in 1889 and was listed on the federal National Register of Historic Places in 2000 for its architecture and social significance.
CD Perry has a $518,192 contract to repair the firehouse foundation and the "concrete apparatus floor" where fire trucks are parked at street level. Due to the recently discovered damage, an additional $232,627 is required for the basement repairs. That will bring the project costs to $750,819.
Fire Chief Eric McMahon has asked the City Council to approve the additional work needed to keep the historic firehouse functioning to provide protection to South Troy.
"Troy Fire Station 6 is undergoing an extensive foundation and apparatus floor repair. Due to the age of the building and water infiltration into the basement, the existing concrete is deteriorating and the steel supports are showing signs of extensive corrosion" McMahon wrote the City Council.
The firehouse currently is empty as repairs are made to the building.
The National Register of Historic Places documents filed with the National Archives and Research Administration which holds National Park Service records says: "The J. C. Osgood Firehouse, built in 1889, is historically significant in the area of architecture as a good representative example of Queen Anne style institutional architecture in the City of Troy and in the area of social history as a well-preserved document of Troy's rich firefighting heritage."
"The Jason C. Osgood Company was founded when volunteer firefighting was not only crucial to public safety, but integral to the social fabric of the 19th century city. While Troy's other fire stations of this period have disappeared or been reused, the J. C. Osgood remains Troy's oldest active firehouse, an artifact of an era that spun so much of the popular heroism of early firefighting," the application for the national register designation states.
"The masonry, highly finished officers' quarters and recreation room still reflect the public, private, ceremonial and functional roles of the 19th century firehouse. The period of significance for the firehouse, 1889 to 1924, is the period of time the firehouse was a volunteer company," the report continues.
The firehouse remains an important part of the community: It has long been a polling place for city voters.
The council will consider paying the increased repair costs by drawing on the city's capital reserves. The council meets as the Finance Committee at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to consider the proposal. If approved, the council would hold a final vote at its 7 p.m. September council meeting that night.
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