STROUDSBURG -- Beam after beam is being raised, welded, and installed at the Stroudsburg fire department. The major renovation project began in late April because of a new ladder truck.
"It wouldn't fit in the building, it doesn't fit in the doors, and more to the point and more importantly, the floor will not hold it," said Stroudsburg borough manager Cathy Thomas.
Thomas tells Newswatch 16 borough officials knew renovations were well overdue for this building. It dates back to 1931 and hasn't been updated in about 30 years.
Contractors say 84 beams will be added for support.
"You don't really find big buildings like this with a basement in them, usually they're on slab," said Nu Cor Management Inc. supervisor Nicholas Goffredo.
While all of the renovations are underway, the fire department had to find a new home, so it moved all of its trucks to a building off 10th Street. Stroudsburg volunteer firefighters say they look forward to moving back to their home along Sarah Street.
Contractors hope to have the project complete sometime this fall.
"We've got to get them back in as soon as possible, so we have to stay on task and we're doing pretty well with that," says Goffredo.
The renovation costing more than $1 million has come with a few setbacks already.
"We had to come up with an alternate design, and the alternate design involved us ordering more steel, and using more steel than we originally anticipated," says Thomas.
And because it's mostly structural support work, contractors say from the outside most people will hardly notice any difference when it's all done sometime this fall.
