LANSFORD -- A historic building is being torn down in Carbon County to make way for a new place for firefighters.
On Monday, demolition crews started to tear down what used to be the town hall in Lansford. Up until last week it also served to house some fire department equipment. A new larger building will be built in its place.
"That building was built in the early 1900s and the size of the apparatus today is a lot bigger than it was then," said Lansford Assistant Fire Chief Ron Hood.
"This building, I hate to say it, was going to the dogs. It was left go and the cheapest thing to do is tear it down," Tom Staruch, Lansford Fire Department
Aleida VanBuren has been busy taking pictures of the demolition to help create a historical scrapbook for the fire department.
"I have been coming here since I was little. My uncle was a firefighter and now my boyfriend is a firefighter here and they all make us feel at home, like family."
The demolition contractor says care has to be taken in tearing down the former town hall and fire department garage.
"We take it down surgically, keep everything separated. We have to be very careful because it's close to the street and it's got an exterior breezeway attached to another building," said Joe Sparrow, Shea Demolition.
The demolition contractor says there is still time to pick up a brick in memory of the old building.
All the metal taken from the building will be recycled.