Melville fire house
November 11, 2008
New Melville fire house, 1948?
Entry Filed under: buildings, transportation. Tags: fire department, fire house, fire truck, Melville, New York.
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1.
Thomas Crist | November 14, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Seventeen members of the Melville Volunteer Fire Company (Raymond Moffatt, George Nathan, William Diescher, Paul McCullum, Charles Ward, William King, Leo Klarmann, Chief John E. Hauser, William Graeser, Kurt Kuhn, Frank Schneider, Arvid Carlson, Harry Schnell, James Edwards, Conrad Herrmann, John H. Hauser (father of the chief) and Thomas Rae put up their homes as collateral to secure a loan of $5,000 from the Huntington Station Bank to establish a Building Construction Fund to build a firehouse. Several local businessmen also contributed to this fund. Gustav Caretto, a registered architect who lived in the area, was later recognized as an Honorary Member because he prepared construction drawings for the building free of charge.
In July of 1948, several members who had construction experience provided all of the labor required to excavate the site. They also poured the footings, laid the concrete block foundation to grade level, and poured the concrete floor. They were assisted by other members and a few local citizens such as Paul Menke and Bill Thomas, the local blacksmith who insisted on running wheelbarrows of concrete into the excavation for the footings.
The construction of the balance of the structure was let-out on contract in October. Local supply houses donated some of the construction material. Members of the Local #154 Roofers Union donated their labor to construct the roof. The cornerstone was laid in the fall of 1948. By mid 1949, the building was completed and equipment was backed in ready to roll on an alarm.
2.
Thomas Crist | November 14, 2008 at 6:55 pm
This building is now a Wise Eyes store located On Walt Whitman Rd. south of Old Country Rd.