WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – Worcester officials want to build a new fire station at the site of a fatal blaze that killed six firefighters four years ago.

The city has reached a deal to take the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building by eminent domain and pay owner Ding On “Tony” Kwan $900,000 for the property, city manager Thomas R. Hoover told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.

The city would then erect a new firehouse on the one-acre property to replace a nearby aging facility. The site would also house administrative and fire prevention offices.

“This is a proper and fitting way to preserve a property consecrated by this tragedy,” Hoover wrote in a memo sent to city councilors.

Six Worcester firefighters died in the Dec. 3, 1999 blaze in the warehouse that was started when a homeless couple taking shelter in the building knocked over a candle during an argument. Lts. Timothy P. Jackson, Thomas E. Spencer and James F. Lyons III, and firefighters Paul A. Brotherton, Jeremiah M. Lucey and Joseph T. McGuirk died.

The council, which meets Tuesday, must approve the purchase plan before it can go forward.

The city would use the $1 million in proceeds from the sale of another city fire station to pay Kwan.

The city council will also be asked to approve loans to finance site studies and preparation, environmental assessments and the actual construction of the building, Hoover said. The city would also be responsible for the demolition of the portion of the building that was not damaged in the 1999 fire.

The cost of the entire project has not been determined, but city officials hope to begin construction before the end of next year.

As part of the deal, Kwan would keep nearly 22,000 square feet at the rear of the property and the right to erect and maintain a billboard visible from a nearby interstate highway.

AP-ES-11-29-03 1400EST