FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2026
Mayor Noble Announces Groundbreaking for New Central Fire Station
KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce that a groundbreaking was held today for the new Central Fire Station at 18 East O’Reilly Street.
Mayor Noble said, “We are pleased to break ground on this vital community safety project. The Kingston Fire Department has outgrown its current facility, which is ideally located in the heart of Kingston, where our team can respond to emergencies within three minutes anywhere in the city. When the building directly across the street from the fire station went on the market, the City quickly purchased the property, in what will be a best-case scenario for maintaining the Fire Department’s high level of service. Not only will it expand the existing station, but it will also include an Emergency Operations Center, and is advancing our sustainability goals as our first municipal building to have both geothermal and photovoltaic energy saving infrastructure.”
The Kingston Fire Department’s current Central Fire Station located at 19 East O’Reilly Street was originally built in 1908 for horse drawn fire apparatuses and is not currently serving the functional and technological needs of the KFD. Due to the historic designation along with the limitations of its footprint, the existing structure could not be affordably rehabilitated or modernized.
Originally built in 1940 by Central Hudson, the 18 E. O’Reilly property has two integrated garages and ample office and storage space. The building will be adaptively reused as an active fire station that expands the existing station. Larger apparatuses will operate out of this new facility, while smaller fire vehicles and ambulances will continue to respond from the existing building. The new facility will also house the City of Kingston’s Emergency Operations Center and training rooms.
Renovations include:
- Selectively demolish and rebuild expanded apparatus bay
- Install 8-ton geothermal energy system using 6 wells located in the main bay apron
- Install 56-kw grid-tied rooftop photovoltaic system
- Regrading/surfacing of adjacent parking lot
- Site utility re-connections
- Exterior façade repair/repointing and improvements
- Window and door replacement
- Roof replacement
- Establishment of interior walls, doors, restrooms, kitchen, sleeping quarters, storage and garage spaces
- Interior wall, floor and ceiling replacements
- Thermal envelope improvements
- Electrical power, lighting, and low voltage distribution systems
Kingston Fire Chief Chris Rea said, “This new facility will bring Kingston into the future. Not only will it allow us to continue providing optimum fire protection and EMS response, the new Central Fire Station will also allow for growth. On behalf of the Fire Department, I want to thank Mayor Noble for his foresight, which meant former Chief Mark Brown and I could begin planning for this expansion years ago, and thanks to the Common Council for funding this much-needed project.”
The new building design will be ADA-compliant and provide more than the minimum 60-foot wide apparatus bay apron; 20 parking spaces; a ten-bed dormitory, 36-person training room, officer-in-charge room, radio room, kitchen and ready room for eight personnel, 1,000 square feet stock/storage space, and 2,500 square feet 2-bay secondary storage garage.
Building evaluation, and renovation design were completed by the engineering firm C.T. Male Associates. Construction has been awarded to LeChase Construction Services for a cost of $8,798,750. Construction is expected to take approximately 14 months.
This project has a signed Project Labor Agreement, in order to support our local workforce.
More about the project at www.engagekingston.com/central-fire-station.