Open House held for Hagar Township Public Safety Building
By Wanda Thomas

Over 350 people attended the July 2 Pancake Breakfast and Open House for the recently constructed Hagar Township Public Safety Building, located near the corner of Coloma Road and Fikes Road in Hagar Township. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Hagar Township Downtown Development Authority Board (DDA) will take place at a later date.

The 7,610-square-foot facility replaces the former Hagar Township Fire Station, which was located at 1021 Dearborn Place in the Hagar Shore area.

According to Hagar Township Supervisor Eugene (“Butch”) Jarvis, the new building is more centrally located in the Township and should provide better response times on average. The new facility also incorporates energy-efficient features that should provide considerable savings on utility bills.

The $800,000 building includes four emergency vehicle double-deep bays, offices, a meeting room, kitchen facilities, and a storage room.
A 90,000-gallon underground water storage structure is on site and that will enable the Fire Department to fill its tanker vehicles with water right at the station.

The cost of the water supply and hydrant system, as well as the land the building occupies, was donated by Sam and Connie Monte, lifetime residents of Hagar Township.

Money for much of the rest of the project was earned and set aside over the years by the Township’s DDA.

The following comments were offered by Supervisor Jarvis.
“In the spirit of the quote from the movie Field of Dreams, we have built it and they have come. While I’m very proud to be able to be involved with this project, I want to emphasize that this Public Safety Building has been in the planning for many years, born of the foresight and vision of Downtown Development Authority members for more than 15 years before this building’s completion.

“The unexpected, but welcome, outcome of this grand undertaking for Hagar Township – and this is a truly grand undertaking for a community the size of Hagar Township – is that we have not only created a first-class facility for our community fire department along with, thanks to the generosity of Sam and Connie Monte, a 90,000-gallon water supply and fire hydrant system; but Coloma Ambulance, which has been our emergency medical services provider, has committed to stationing an ambulance right here at our Public Safety Building as frequently as possible to shorten the amount of time it takes to provide help to our neighbors, our friends, and our family in Hagar Township.

“If that wasn’t enough, we have just recently started talking to Lt. Mays, Post Commander of the Michigan State Police Post in Bridgman, and we are optimistic that we will have a state police car stationed right here in Riverside in the coming weeks.

“I’m reminded of our first charge as Township officials – to always act in the interest of the health, safety and welfare of the Township and its residents. We have built it. And they ALL have come. In my mind, with this project, we have all taken a huge step in the direction of providing for the health, safety and welfare of Hagar Township.”