'I Didn't Want it...to Become Just Pavement'

It served Milford as a firehouse for a century, was "put in mothballs," twice and finally, was sold to a local resident at a bargain-basement price. The sale, however, did not come without one unforeseen catch: you can buy it, but you can't really do anything with it.

That's the dilemma facing local developer Jose (Joe) Ferreira, whose $32,000 purchase of the former South Main Street Fire Station was approved in July. Since that time, Ferreira has been petitioning the town for the necessary permits to turn the old, decaying station into a tax-generating building.

"I think that Joe can do a good job of fixing it up," said Ferreira's wife, Suzette. To that end, Ferreira has slowly been making improvements to the property, the most extensive being the recent renovation of the hose tower. "He wants to fix it up to show a good faith effort to make it look good."

"People were worried about the tower," said Joe Ferreira, owner of Seaside Building Inc. "They could see it shaking during high-wind rainstorms."

As to his motivation for purchasing the property, Ferreira recalled growing up in the area and seeing the firefighters in and around the structure, when it was still an active part of the . "I grew up on Hollis Street," he said, "and I'd see the firemen all of the time."

According to Deputy Fire Chief William Touhey, the station was built around the early 1900s. "It was put in 'mothballs' around the year 2000," he said. "Then, when we rebuilt the Spruce Street station, it was reactivated until the construction was completed. When that was done, in 2003, the South Main Street station went into 'mothballs' again. When I first started, that's where I was. It was good to us."

Until the sale to Ferreira, the building served as a storage center for the police and fire departments. 

The sale was predicated on Ferreira's agreeing to convert the station to a multi-use building, with the bottom floor given over to commercial use, while the upper level would be turned into a housing unit. That plan was abandoned, however, as a result of neighborhood concerns. The major hurdle was the lack of available parking space for a commercial business.

After a second hearing in front of the Board of Selectmen, the town petitioned the Zoning Board of Appeals to grant permission for the station to be converted to a single-family home. This plan, too, was rejected, owing to the fact that the building does not have the frontage required for a residence. "Because it was not a residence before, it's considered 'new use,'" Ferreira said.

Ferreira now finds himself a victim of the proverbial Catch-22. He lamented that "the property is now deed restricted; it can only be a single-family home." However, because of the frontage issue and again, parking concerns, Ferreira must once again petition the town. He said the parking concerns were puzzling, since he has plans to retain the station's existing garage area.

Until such time as a variance is granted, the building remains vacant.

While waiting to, once again, "go back in front of the (Zoning) Board," Ferreira plans on continuing to make improvements to the property, albeit at a slower pace.

The reconstruction work on the building's hose tower hasn't gone unnoticed. "It actually looks really nice," Deputy Chief Touhey said.

Ferreira plans a finishing touch for the reconstructed hose tower. "I'm going to put an American flag at the top," he said, "and have some lights installed (to illuminate the flag)."

Beyond that, plans for further major repairs are at a standstill, until the status of the building is clarified. "If we get turned down (again)," he said, "we're just not going to put any more money into it and it'll just deteriorate."

Neither Ferreira nor his wife, Suzette, have expressed regrets over their purchase of the building. "I thought it was cool," Suzette said. Her husband offered a more sentimental viewpoint. "I didn't want it just torn down and to become just pavement," he said. "It's a part of Milford and the town's history."