Wellersburg fire hall and community center will expand to house more equipment, people

WELLERSBURG ― Wellersburg's community center will be expanding to offer more services thanks in part to grant money the fire department received.

Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler, R-PA, secured $61 million in community project funding through the passage of H.R. 4366, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on March 9.

“I’m proud to announce that my efforts have secured $61 million in community project funding for southwestern Pennsylvania through our appropriations process,” Reschenthaler said in a press release. “This funding will support workforce development programs, library improvements, law enforcement and fire department funding, locks and dams funding, sewer and waterline infrastructure, and economic development. Simply put – this is a huge win for our district.”

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Through Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, $300,000 was designated for the Wellersburg Community Center Modifications Project.

Jim VanMeter, representative of the Wellersburg Volunteer Fire Department, said the project is a renovation and addition project to the Wellersburg fire hall.

"The hall is used for more than the fire department. It is a meeting place for the town meetings, the Wellersburg voting precinct, and emergency shelter," VanMeter said. "It's not just an emergency shelter for the borough. Southampton Township residents can come to the fire hall as well. Travelers, too. We wouldn't turn anybody away."

Route 160 is a North-South thruway that cuts straight through Wellersburg. GPS directions bring traffic to Route 219 from or to Maryland through Somerset County on Route 160.

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"It takes 2 minutes off their travel time, (rather than driving farther along Route 68 to the Route 219 interchange in Grantsville, Maryland)" VanMeter said. "We've sat out front and counted 100 vehicles per hour going up the mountain. And the vehicles were from Virginia, Washington, D.C.," and any other points to the south of the Pennsylvania border wanting to connect to Route 219.

"And we still get truck traffic even though the signs say don't take this route," he said.

Route 160 has a sharp descent from the top of the Wellersburg mountain through the borough. Over the past few years, semi-tractor trailers have lost their brakes or their brakes have caught fire. Two tractor-trailers crashed into a church, demolishing it, in about a year. Signage has been placed at the top of the mountain and the Route 219 intersection just outside Somerset, informing truck drivers to not take Route 160 because of the steep decline.

What will change?

"We've outgrown every aspect of the building. We have no ADA capability, no garage space for new equipment," VanMeter said. "It will give us the opportunity to expand the facility and capabilities for the future."

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The fire hall modifications include a new 56-foot by 60-foot garage facility that will make the garage large enough to house the current and future fire fighting apparatus, VanMeter said. It will add on to the community hall to double the seating capacity to 200 people. Also included in the project is making the fire hall bathroom ADA compliant, additional office space and a storage facility.

"The fire department has been working diligently for funding grants to help with the estimated $500,000 project," VanMeter said.

The fire department will come up with the rest of the funds to finish the project, he said.

Earlier this year, Wellersburg and Corriganville, Maryland, fire departments went together and bought property adjacent to the Wellersburg property that housed the former Wellersburg school building. They tore the school building down because it was beyond repair, VanMeter said.

Wellersburg will use its half of the property to expand its parking lot. Corriganville will be putting up a large storage building on its half, he said.

Work on the project has already begun. VanMeter said the department has already contracted an engineering firm and is making blueprints and property surveys. They plan to break ground sometime in the fall or winter, depending on the weather. The project should take about six to eight months to complete he said.

"Construction will be going on, but it won't interfere with activities such as the monthly chicken fry," he said.

VanMeter invites anybody who wants to donate to the project to do so at the fire hall on any chicken fry Saturday or contact any fire department members.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Wellersburg center remodel will add more space