Court asked to decide ownership of historic station
Members of the Beacon Engine Co. filed a complaint on April 8 asking for judgment on whether the volunteer company or the City of Beacon owns the 136-year-old firehouse on East Main Street.
Judge Maria Rosa dismissed a request last month from the firefighters that she prevent them from being evicted on March 31 and delay the city’s plans to sell the building to help finance a newly opened $14.7 million central station. In her decision, Rosa noted that a title expert hired by the city testified that the municipality owns the property while the firefighters showed no evidence to back their claim.
Since the firehouse’s construction in 1889, the company has “believed in good faith that is holds an ownership interest,” said the most recent complaint, which asks for rulings on allegations that the firefighters were wrongly evicted and “unjustly” funded maintenance and repairs.
“But for [the volunteers’] maintenance, upkeep and care of the property over decades,” the city would have no property to sell, the firefighters argued.
