The Plainview Fire Department held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to start the process of building a new maintenance center for the department.

The current maintenance building was built around 1962 and although it has been updated slightly over the years, it is no longer meeting the needs of the department.

The maintenance center is a full-service facility where a full-time staff conducts preventative work on the fire department's equipment and also performs repairs.

Over the years, the fire trucks have increased in size and the current maintenance facility can no longer house the trucks. This new facility, according to the Plainview Fire Department Board of Commissioners, will allow the department to do better repairs and afford the staff an appropriate place to perform their work.

This new maintenance center, according to the commissioners, will help the community and also save the taxpayers money in the long run because it is more cost efficient for the department to perform the maintenance to the trucks and equipment on site and not send them out.

This project has been in the development stage for the last few years as those involved wanted to make sure that everything was done right.

The new facility, which will be approximately 15,000 square feet and two stories tall, will also house classrooms, storage for equipment and supplies and sleeping quarters. Construction is expected to take approximately nine months.

The department has been saving money for these renovations for some time and also used some of those funds to recently upgrade some of the department's equipment and purchase a new ladder truck to replace the old one which was purchased in 1975.

The department, which has approximately 110 volunteers and covers 10 square miles, responds to approximately 1,650 calls a year. The department is always looking for volunteers. Volunteers must be between the ages of 18 and 55 and a resident of Plainview or Old Bethpage. Those interested should call 938-9601.