EG Fire Marshal Moving to Town Offices

In a move that should save a lot of steps and time for people working on building construction and renovation, the Fire Marshal’s office is being moved out of the Main Street fire station into an available office with the at 111 Peirce St.

Fire Chief Peter Henrikson made the announcement at a meeting of the Fire District Commissioners Thursday night.

At one time, the job of a local Fire Marshal consisted primarily of investigating the cause of fires. Over time it evolved into reviewing construction and renovation plans to ensure compliance with the state fire code and rules for smoke detectors.

Henrikson said plan review and on-site inspections now make up 90 percent of the Fire Marshal’s work load. He said the suggestion to relocate the office came from Town Manager Bill Sequino during discussions on coordinating activities.  

“As we talked about it. It just made sense,” said Henrikson. “Now people seeking plan approval won’t have to shuttle back and forth between the town offices and the fire station."

A few details about fee collections are being worked out, but the Fire Marshal’s phone number will stay the same and Henrikson anticipates an easy transition.  

In other action, the Fire District's look into the availability of state-owned property at Post Road and Cedar Avenue slowed a little this week when personnel complications at the Department of Transportation pushed back a meeting until March 28. Some state-owned properties must be first offered to local government and the district wanted to know what procedures were going to apply to this site.  

Henrikson has and the site at Post and Cedar came into play when it was learned the state has plans to sell the property.  

The price has been put at $360,000 and the Fire District has available $328,000 collected in impact fees that could be used for the purchase. Commissioner Bill Daly told the commissioners his committee had reviewed a five-year impact fee utilization project plan and the money could be used for the site acquisition. The fees must be reviewed annually and if the site isn’t purchased, they would be reallocated to other items. to make sure the property is suitable as a site for a fire station.  

Also, Odeum President Frank Prosnitz gave the commissioners the same report , saying unexpected delays had pushed the reopening of the theater to May. The building opened as a movie theater on May 26, 1926, with a showing of Phantom of the Opera. Prosnitz said he is aiming to reopen on the anniversary date.

Responding to a question from Commissioner Steve Bartlett about a vision for the theater, Prosnitz says it would be very active, with at least weekly performances. He said he is putting together a performance schedule, which should be available next month.

The Commissioners voted to extend the theater’s tax exemption to the date of their June 28 meeting. If the theater is open and running at that time, the exemption becomes permanent.

Stringent new fire codes after the disastrous Station fire and because it was inactive it went back on the tax rolls. Receipt of a tax bill jump-started efforts to get the theater operating and gave a huge shot in the arm to needed renovations.