The Sharing Center moving to old Trevor Fire Station

A screenshot of a Google Streetview image of the old Trevor Fire Station, now slated to be the new home of The Sharing Center.

The Sharing Center will be moving to new quarters in the old Trevor Fire Station, Kimberly Swanson, president of the center’s Board of Directors announced today.

The center was recently approached about locating in the fire station after a representative of the fraternal firefighters organization that owns the building saw a post on westofthei.com about the center’s current landlord, the village of Paddock Lake, increasing the center’s rent by 78 percent for 2012, Swanson said.  Ed Herried, Tom Seep and Donn Mathews represented the firefighters organization in the talks that yielded an agreement on a five-year lease with a  monthly rent of $1,250.

The lease and security deposit are expected to be finalized this week after attorney review of the final draft, Swanson said.

“The five-year lease term is a very generous one,” Swanson said. “The security of a five-year lease gives the center the opportunity to implement a plan to purchase the Trevor FD building in the future. We need a permanent home. It’s a great location, easy to find, with large rooms on one level and plenty of storage.”

Center officials had expressed some disappointment in the rent increase proposed by the village for the center’s current quarters in a former doctor’s office building  just to the south of village hall. Village officials countered that they could not continue to allow the center to rent at a lower than market rate and in effect subsidize the center.

The center’s new location was made obsolete as a fire station earlier this year when the new Trevor Fire Station, just north of the old location, opened. That building also serves as the Salem Fire/Rescue headquarters and includes a new public works facility.

The building’s layout as a fire station will work to the advantage of the center, Swanson said.

“The layout of the Trevor FD building provides plenty of space to streamline the existing Food Pantry program of the Center to better serve its clients,” Swanson said.

Dan Melyon, executive director of the Shalom Center, has  offered his assistance to help the center with the design of the Food Pantry at the new location, Swanson said. The Sharing Center Food Coordinator, Ken Wicklein, will be setting up a time to take a tour of the Shalom Center in the next week or so.

Center officials in a recent presentation to the Salem Town Board said a large part of their client base lives in Salem-Trevor.

The Sharing Center also is looking to keep some of the firefighter nostalgia as part of the new home, Swanson said. The lockers where firefighters used to keep their turnout gear will be incorporated into the center’s Back to Work and Kids Clothing programs.

“I think it would be a great tribute to the Trevor FD to keep a piece of the firefighter’s legacy as part of the new home for The Sharing Center,” Swanson said. “Both organizations are community oriented non-profits and we are very grateful for the helping hand extended to us in our time of need.”

The anticipated move in date is expected to be March or April 2012, Swanson said.

Note: Karen Hillock, co-owner of westofthei.com, is a member of The Sharing Center Board of Directors.

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  1. Chris Skrzynecki says:

    What a great idea. Kudos to all involved.So many things are being taken care of on both ends of this agreement.

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