Mayor Greg Buontempo and the Holmdel Township Committee broke ground on a new firehouse at the Crawfords Corner Road Municipal Complex yesterday, October 6th. Mayor Buontempo, Deputy Mayor Cathy Weber, Committeeman Rocco Pascucci and Committeeman Prakash Santhana were joined by Congressman Chris Smith (CD4), Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (LD13), members of Holmdel Fire and Rescue Company #2, Arcari and Iovino Architects, CME Associates and Pharos Enterprises. The ceremonial groundbreaking marked the culmination of years of effort to bring the project to fruition.


 “Fire protection is a top priority for this governing body,” said Mayor Buontempo. “In addition to improving facilities, we are addressing this issue on two other fronts; equipment and membership. Last year the Township approved and ordered a new pumper truck for which we expect delivery later this year. Volunteer recruitment is up. The Department has added seven new members with several more in the pipeline. These volunteers risk their lives to protect ours.”


 The new $4.1 million centrally located firehouse will be a 10,600 square foot state-of-the-art facility that will help satisfy the need to house larger equipment and accounts for the expanding volunteer base of the Fire Company. Designed with contemporary firehouses in mind, the project will have three zones: live/work, response readiness, and garage bays. The purpose of these zones is to create an efficient layout and clean environment. Visually, the building textures and materials were chosen to reflect the aesthetic of local farm and municipal buildings.


 The location was selected after a careful analysis of several sites in town. Once selected, the Township needed to work with the United States Postal Service in order to amend their existing lease of Township property. Congressman Chris Smith was instrumental in facilitating this process.