Judge rejects request to delay eviction

A Dutchess County judge last week rejected a request by retired volunteer firefighters to pause a city order to vacate a 136-year-old station on East Main Street. The firefighters argue it is not clear that Beacon owns the property.

City officials plan to sell the Beacon Engine Co. and Mase Hook and Ladder stations and apply the proceeds to a $14.7 million central station that opened in October near City Hall. Gate House Compass Realty was selected to facilitate the sales, and the buildings should go on the market next month.

The Beacon Engine Co. station was built in 1889 at 57 East Main St. by the Village of Matteawan, which merged in 1913 with Fishkill Landing to become the City of Beacon. The 2½-story brick structure was constructed in the Second Empire style of 19th-century France. The Mase firehouse is a 113-year-old, three-story brick building at 425 Main St.

Together with the Lewis Tompkins Hose Co. station, which was on the site of the new firehouse, the buildings were the headquarters for generations of volunteers. Beacon Engine closed in 2020 and Mase was vacated when the new station opened, but retired volunteers have continued to use Beacon Engine for social and charitable events.

On March 12, a group of those volunteers asked Judge Maria Rosa to set aside a city order that they vacate the building by March 31. The volunteers also asked Rosa to stop any sale until she determined their rights to the station.

After Rosa denied the petition two days later, Beacon Engine Co. trustees said they are preparing to move out, although they dispute city ownership.

When the City Council voted in February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic shutdown, to close Beacon Engine, both the retired volunteers and city officials believed the fire company owned two-thirds of the building - the original structure, which is believed to have housed the first motorized fire engine in Dutchess County - with the city holding a larger bay added in 1924.

Since that time, the firefighters say, Beacon officials conducted a title search that showed municipal ownership of the entire building. In their petition, the volunteers disputed that, saying ownership is unclear because of "aged, handwritten deeds" and "incomplete searches and conclusory assertions" by the city.

City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis said Tuesday (March 18) that Beacon provided the volunteer trustees with documentation of its sole ownership two years ago and would file supporting evidence with the court today (March 21). The volunteer company offered to lease or purchase the building but was turned down, he said.

"While the city recognizes and appreciates the years of contribution from the volunteer firefighters," the company has provided no evidence of ownership, Ward-Willis said.

Since the city closed the station in 2020, volunteers say they have paid for its maintenance, including roof, floor and window repairs and insurance, despite the unclear title. It continued to be the headquarters for charitable efforts such as the annual Toys for Tots drive and fundraising for a campus in Hudson for volunteer firefighters who can no longer care for themselves.

The building is a social hub for retired volunteers and could attract more members if the city halted or paused plans to sell, said Joe Green, a Beacon Engine Co. trustee. "There's a lot of guys who would use this firehouse if they could," he said, estimating that as many as 250 retirees from the three companies live in the area.

Mike Angeloni, the company treasurer, said the volunteers approached the Beacon Historical Society about creating a City of Beacon Firefighters Museum at the site and, if given the green light, would have pursued grants to continue rehabbing the building. The company had a good working relationship with the city "until the dollar signs came out," he said.

The Beacon Engine firehouse was listed in 2004 on the National Register of Historic Places, which limits what...