RUMFORD — Back on Jan. 25, voters approved the town taking out a $5.4 million bond and accepting $1 million from the federal government to build a new Central Fire Station in the Falmouth Street area.
On March 17, Town Manager Stacy Carter told selectmen the bond loan request was approved a day earlier.
“We reduced the request to $4.4 million, with the information about the $1 million earmark by Maine’s Congressional delegation for the new Central Fire Station. So that will decrease the principle interest payments. We do not know what the interest payment is. It’s not a fixed rate. The early part of the loan was actually below 1 percent and then towards the end of the loan, it was up around 3.5 percent. I won’t know until we get the loan documents,” he said.
Earlier, Carter said, “The new Rumford Fire Station will assure our firefighters of a safe building, free of concerns regarding structural collapse, and capable of housing our largest apparatus. This critical funding gave the people of Rumford confidence in making the commitments necessary to authorize the project which had been under serious consideration since 1989. The project has previously seen three separate proposals over the past 33 years, all of which were rejected due to concerns about cost and the future of the local economy.”
The current Central Fire Station in Rumford, built in 1923, is not well suited to house modern firefighting equipment. Additionally, the building has deep cracks in its concrete floor, foundation, and load-bearing walls, putting it at risk of structural failure.
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