Port Townsend: Going, going, gone goes city’s old fire station

Published 12:01 am Sunday, July 25, 2004

PORT TOWNSEND — Retired Port Townsend firefighter James A. “Bonzo” DeLeo wasn’t very happy Friday as he stood on Harrison Street.

A bucket was taking bite after bite out of the old fire station, demolishing the building at Lawrence and Harrison streets so a new one can be built in its place.

DeLeo thought the demolition unnecessary.

“I just can’t believe what I’m seeing,” he said.

DeLeo, who was a member of the Fire Department from 1948 to 1975, thinks the city is making a mistake by building the $1.8 million station when it could have remodeled the old station for a lesser amount.

Federal assistance

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying $1.3 million with the city adding another $500,000 to pay for the construction.

“They’re not getting any more floor space,” DeLeo said of the new station.