SOUTHBURY-
A former Roman Catholic Church rectory will be converted to
an ambulance headquarters under a plan approved Tuesday night
by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Southbury
Ambulance Association will buy Sacred Heart Church's former
rectory at 68 George's Hill Road as early as December, said
Henry Velthuizen, association president. Then it will knock
down a three-car garage and replace it with a 3,967-square-foot
garage large enough for eight ambulances.
Workers
also will carve out office, meeting, storage, and training space
in the rectory building, which is about 3,700 square feet.
Velthuizen
expects work to be done by the spring so the association can
move from the house it rents on Main Street South between Walgreens
and Denmo's.
"We'll
make it our own versus what we have now, which is not ours,"
he said.
He is aware
people have 15 days from Tuesday to appeal the board's decision
at Waterbury Superior Court, but hopes the acquisition and construction
process will not be delayed.
Some neighbors
feared sirens and other noise after dark would keep them awake,
or that the association will use up well water in the area.
Velthuizen said the organization and its members will be good
neighbors.
He said
the building's location within a quarter mile of Exit 14 off
Interstate 84 will be an asset to the community. It means the
ambulance can use the highway to get to calls on the east side
of town instead of battling congestion on Main Street South.
Also, the
ambulances will be safely stored inside a garage instead of
being left outside all the time. The association owns two ambulances
now, but will expand its fleet to three next year.
The association
will pay the church $875,000 for the 4.3-acre site and two buildings.
Velthuizen
has said it will borrow some money to pay for the property.
The association
responds to all medical calls in Southbury, except in Heritage
Village and Southbury Training School, which have their own
services. It is comprised of volunteers, but pays emergency
medical technicians from Campion Ambulance in Waterbury to cover
some shifts, mostly during the day when volunteers are out of
town at work.
