Bristol’s New Fire Station Plan Saves Garden, Upgrades Basketball Courts

Bristol Borough Council showed off the latest plan to construct a centralized firehouse on Jefferson Avenue as part of a plan to consolidate all four of the borough’s volunteer fire companies under one roof.

The plan revealed Wednesday evening keeps the community garden and gives an overhaul of the nearby basketball courts. The original plans would have impacted those spaces.

The proposal was unveiled at a special council meeting and comes after decades of discussion and multiple studies.

Under the proposal, the Bristol Consolidated, America Hose Hook and Ladder, Goodwill Hose, and Bristol fire companies have formally affirmed their commitment to merge operations into the single new station.

“Volunteer firefighters have been serving Bristol Borough since at least 1857,” said Steve Reeves, president of the Bristol Borough Fire Association. “Generations of members and their families have given their time, raised money, and answered calls for help, saving the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Now we have an opportunity to make a historic investment in the future of that service.”

The latest push for consolidation comes after a 2021 study by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which highlighted daytime firefighter shortages, aging facilities with inadequate space for modern apparatus, and the financial strain of maintaining duplicate equipment across four separate stations.

Officials expect the plan to reduce the combined fire apparatus fleet by 50 percent, which is estimated to save $6 million in taxpayer dollars.

The borough has secured approximately $3.7 million in state and federal funding for the project, with officials hoping for additional commitments as development proceeds.

Although the state study initially recommended a site at Prospect and Washington streets, that property is owned by the Grundy Foundation, which declined to sell.

Officials then evaluated the Jefferson Avenue location, which the author of the state study consulted directly and called “a home run.”

Addressing concerns over public amenities at the Jefferson Avenue site, officials said that the adjacent Adams Hollow Community Garden will remain intact.

“The garden does not get impacted,” said former Mayor Ralph DiGuiseppe III, who helped work on the plan. “We heard you, we listened to you, we listened to the concerns about longer growing seasons, higher fences for the deer. You love your garden, you love the pavilion, you love everything it has to offer. It’s not being touched. It is staying 100% the way it is.”

Additionally, all three existing basketball courts will be resurfaced and outfitted with new striping, backboards, and lighting.

The walking path in the area will be slightly diverted around the new building and will keep its connection to the canal.

The design for the new station features four pull-through engine bays, a dedicated gear room, decontamination facilities, showers, a watch room, overnight duty crew bunk areas, a hose-drying tower, and a community room overlooking the canal.

The building’s exterior is set to blend with the historic architecture of Borough Hall, officials said.

Plans also incorporate a secondary access point off Adams Street that will be reserved for emergency vehicle response and firefighter access.

Officials told residents that sirens will not be activated along that stretch of roadway during late-night responses.

Addressing some environmental concerns, officials confirmed the project will follow the borough’s stormwater management ordinance and use an underground storage beneath the parking lot to manage the new impervious surfaces.

Resident Don McCloskey, who opposed the first plan, called the finalized proposal workable.

“There’s still a lot of green space that’s been lost, but overall this is probably about the best compromise that we’re going to have,” McCloskey said. “Council has listened to the input from a lot of sources, and this may be about as good as it gets.”

The borough said a new stipend program looks to boost volunteer presence at the station. Volunteers will receive $10 per hour for shifts of at least four hours when part of a minimum four-person crew, aligning with practices at neighboring fire companies.

Deputy Borough Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director AJ DeAngelis stressed the long-term impact on local emergency services.

“This is the future of the fire service in Bristol Borough,” DeAngelis said. “We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation of firefighters to provide them with facilities and a place they can be proud of.”

Reeves stated that some fire service members may hold personal reservations, but the borough’s departments remain unified in moving forward.

Council Vice President Betty Rodriguez expressed support for the plan, and council members thanked community members and stakeholders for their feedback and work on the proposal.