The Easton Volunteer Emergency Medical Services’ long-awaited move into a new facility will likely be adjacent to the Fire Department on Center Road.
Adding a new EMS headquarters onto the fire house will require additional planning and hiring architects, but for now the consensus among EMS and Fire personnel as well as the EMS Building Committee is that this plan is the best course of action.
“After much consideration, there has been a decision made to put an extension on the fire house to give EMS their new home,” said EMS Chief Jon Arnold.
Fire Chief Robert Klem said the organization has voted to explore the possibility of EMS moving next to the fire department’s headquarters and has begun the process of learning more about the details and the overall scope of the project.
“We are at the information gathering stage,” Klem said. “Our membership has concerns and questions they would like to have answered such as the size of the design [and] the legal arrangement for the town.”
EMS officials and supporters of the organization have been trying for years to leave its outdated 92-year-old building on Sport Hill Road and move into a modern and accessible headquarters. Built in 1925 and originally a fire house, the current building has housed the EMS since 1988.
Over the past several years, the EMS has been holding fundraising drives to raise money for a new facility to house and train their growing group of thirty-two staff, thirty of whom are volunteers. The town has committed about $2 million through the American Rescue Plan (Covid recovery funds) toward the new EMS building supplemented by fundraising efforts.
The town’s EMS Planning and Building Committee, which consists of seven members from different town boards and committees, including finance, building and EMS, has been meeting biweekly for months to explore locations that would allow EMS to continue to grow. The current EMS property is a half-acre with little ability to expand in any direction.
Wendy Bowditch, who sits on the EMS Building Committee, said having EMS build onto the fire house makes the most sense. Several locations around town were considered to have EMS build a separate building but each option had significant issues that would need to be addressed.
“It’s just a lot of questions, logistics, zoning and septic issues that need to be worked out,” Bowditch said.
A comprehensive report analyzing Easton’s Fire and EMS systems highlights the need for a new EMS facility, citing insufficient space for its vehicles, office space, living quarters and inadequate space for growth. The report recommends EMS move next to the fire house as a cost-saving measure.
Arnold stressed the importance of having the new EMS department and facility retain its own distinct appearance and identity separate from the fire house for fundraising purposes as well as medical emergencies, staffing and membership recruitment.
“After negotiations and talking with the selectman’s office, we agreed that if we are putting an addition on the fire house, that it would look different, have different building material and have a different sign to make it clear that EMS is a separate department,” said Arnold. “We don’t want residents to be confused when they drive by the fire house.”
EMS is inviting residents to an open house on Memorial Day following the parade from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to see its current headquarters and to learn more about its new building plans. A light lunch will be served.
For information about how to donate to the Easton EMS, go to http://eastonems.com/donate/.
