The East Hampton Fire Department will have a ribbon-cutting and barbecue to mark the grand opening of a new barn for its antique fire vehicles, apparatus, and memorabilia on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. The barn is on Gingerbread Lane Extension.
“This special occasion marks an important milestone in preserving the proud history and traditions of the East Hampton Fire Department,” Mayor Jerry Larsen wrote in a community invitation.
The opening, initially set for July 4, was postponed until Saturday. At the village board’s July 1 meeting, the mayor told his colleagues on the board, “You will be flipping hamburgers and making hot dogs with me. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
“It’s an impressive collection,” Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, said in March of the antique equipment. The Fire Department, he said, “is very proud of it.”
The barn “will free up some room here in our Emergency Services Building,” where most of the antique equipment was stored, Mr. Baladron told the board in April. He listed the project’s cost at just over $250,000, a cost largely offset by grant money.
“We want to thank [former Assemblyman] Fred Thiele and Assemblyman [Tommy John] Schiavoni for their help in doing that,” Mr. Baladron said. “But most importantly, I want to thank the East Hampton Fire Department for fund-raising a total of $150,000. . . . That is an incredible amount of money that they are raising for that effort.”
