HARRISBURG, Pa. — The BBQ chicken dinners, comedy shows, and other fundraisers simply aren't making ends meet like they used to for the Linglestown Fire Company in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County. Instead, the volunteer run department is looking to make a few extra bucks in a more unconventional way.
Linglestown Fire Company wants to lease out its older fire hall to a local business, or anyone who can find more use for it. Currently, the 150-year-old historic building sits largely unused. On the lower level is a fire hall bar and a gym for firefighters. On the 1st and 2nd floors though, there is 10,000 square feet of space the fire company wants to rent out, its president Jeff Jumper tells FOX43.
"The idea of getting the community being able to use it in a better fashion, maybe a business comes in here and finds a new way to make this building important again," Jumper said.
A lessee would gain access to the main hall, garage space, and large kitchen, among other spaces. The fire hall was being used for weddings, meetings, and other family functions, but that was only on occasion and before the COVID-19 pandemic.
By leasing the building, Jumper says, the fire company could supplement the money it normally gets from fundraisers, soup sales, comedy shows, etc. which have been cancelled this year.
"We've been thinking about it for a while," he said. "The pandemic sped up the process and made it more of a reality."
The red brick building which sits on the outskirts of the Village of Linglestown was built in the 1800s. The fire company incorporated it in 1936. In 1991, the main operations moved down the block to a new building, though the fire company still owns and operates the original fire hall at 5901 Linglestown Road.
Jumper says Linglestown, like many volunteer fire companies, are struggling with the same thing: recruitment. It's hard, he says, to get people to devote their time to not only fighting fires, but participating in the fundraisers that make their survival possible.
"Leasing this building helps us recruit volunteers because we’re not recruiting you to sell chicken, or we’re not recruiting you to do all the fundraising activities. We are recruiting you to be a firefighter and respond to help the people in their time of need," Jumper said.
Leasing prices are negotiable, according to Jumper. More information is available by emailing info@linglestownfire.org.