The Kentlands Firehouse: Should It Stay or Should It Go?

The Gaithersburg City Council's invitation to help it decide what to do with the Kentlands Firehouse was not wasted.

More than a dozen people spoke at Monday night's council meeting to urge the council to not declare the property a surplus, and instead renovate it for some public use.

The firehouse sits across from the Kentlands Arts Barn at 321 Firehouse Lane. Many speakers said they wanted to see the property become an expansion of the Arts Barn.

"I can not tell you how many times I've left [the Arts Barn] with other volunteers from the Playhouse after doing a tech rehearsal or putting up a set, and we've walked out and looked at the firehouse and said, 'Gee it would be so nice to have storage here,'" Montgomery Playhouse Vice President Amanda Marie Imhof said. "I know that we would be very interested in looking into a partnership with the city."

Other organizations, such as the Kentlands Community Foundation, also asked for "a seat at the table" to potentially use the building for their own uses.

Most of the speakers were Kentlands residents, and while many voiced their support for the art community, some simply wanted the building to be renovated to add to the character of the area, making it a more pleasant sight.

"That firehouse, as charming as it is, just gets worse and worse every year," a Kentlands resident who has lived in the community since 1994 said. "The back of the building gets flooded ... it just becomes an eyesore."

The building is dilapidated compared to the surrounding Arts Barn and residences, and it's in need of serious renovation. It lacks a sprinkler system, and the rear of the building has no real foundation. "It's just bricks resting on dirt," Deputy City Manager Tony Tomasello said. The upper floor has not been renovated since the 1970s, and still has the look of a 1970s office, he said.

Declaring the property as surplus would allow the city to sell or lease the property. The city hasn't received any offers from businesses or developers, Tomasello said.

Tomasello told the council there had not yet been an estimate on neither the building's worth nor on how much it would cost to renovate the property, the latter of which was the chief concern of the council. Tomasello would only say that he was expecting it to be "fairly expensive" and probably be a "seven-figure project." Getting an estimate itself would be expensive, some council members noted.

"We really don't have a good handle on what the costs are for basic renovation," Councilmember Mike Sesma said. "I think what would be good to know is what the cost would be for basic stabilization of the structures," meaning both the main building and the small greenhouse attached to it, which residents use as a garden for flowers and vegetables.

"Part of the strategic conversations we've had regarding this facility, especially during the fiscal climate that's been in existence since I've been here, is that we're not prepared to spend any resources on this facility," City Manager Angel Jones said. A deal with a local law firm, in which the firm would incur all the costs of renovating the building in exchange for free or reduced rent fell apart in 2009.

"Even if we had given them a 100-year lease, there was no way for them to amortize the expenses that was needed to make it into an office space," Tomasello said.

Tomasello estimated the property was worth $800,000, but that it would cost much more than that to rebuild it if, for example, the building burned down.

"You can't put a price on culture," one Kentlands resident said. "You can't put a price on the reputation of this city."

"You can't put a price on culture, but we do have a budget for culture, and it's expensive," Tomasello said later.

The firehouse was built in the early 20th century. It was used to store farming equipment and vehicles when the area was farmland, and later it stored antique fire engines. The city purchased the building in 1992, along with the Kentlands Mansion and Arts Barn, and its two floors and basement are still used for storage. The Arts Barn uses one of the vehicle bays to build and paint theater sets.

The discussion was technically not a public hearing, even though it was run exactly like one. Legally, the city is only required to notify the public that it is disposing of property it owns; it is not required to open the public record.

In this case, however, "the city wants to provide an opportunity for the public to comment before the council provides guidance to staff," Mayor Sidney Katz said. The discussion would not (and did not) result in a decision for or against declaring the property a surplus, Tomasello said.

"Clearly it doesn't sound like we're ready to move toward a surplus anytime soon," Tomasello said after public comment had finished. He suggested scheduling a work session "with a very large table" for all the people who had asked for a seat.