Quinnipiac University has made a $300,000 voluntary contribution that the town of North Haven has earmarked to underwrite critical upgrades at the North Haven Fire Department’s Northeast Co. 4 Fire Station.
North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda said he was gratified to be contacted by Quinnipiac President Judy Olian, together with Bethany Zemba, vice president for strategy and community relations and chief of staff, with news of the contribution.
“This was such a pleasant surprise,” Freda said. “We’ve always had a great relationship with Quinnipiac University and when President Olian and Vice President Zemba came to tell me about this latest contribution, we were delighted.”
Through the years, Quinnipiac’s assistance to North Haven has helped to support multiple community projects, Freda said.
“We’ve always put this voluntary payment into infrastructure upgrades for the town of North Haven. In the past, Quinnipiac has underwritten the costs for putting in playscapes at all the elementary schools, which thousands of children have enjoyed,” Freda said. “Most recently, Quinnipiac helped underwrite the fire department training station behind the Northeast fire station.”
Quinnipiac also has supplemented the costs of a track at North Haven High School.
Quinnipiac’s latest voluntary contribution will allow the NHFD to complete improvements to a volunteer station serving an area of North Haven that’s focused on economic development and growth, said Freda. The station, located at 366 Washington Ave., is one of three NHFD volunteer stations that serve the town together with NHFD headquarters, a career firefighter station.
“Our donation will be utilized to complete the expansion of the Northeast Co. 4 Fire Station, which includes the renovation of the top floor of the building, and will complement the university’s previous funding commitment used to build a fire training facility at that same site in 2022,” said Zemba. “Quinnipiac recognizes the dedication of our firefighters, and we are pleased to be able to support them in this way.”
North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski said Quinnipiac’s contribution allows the department to pick up on long-stalled renovations at the Northeast Co. 4 building, which lies in closest proximity to Quinnipiac’s North Haven Campus. In addition to completing needed structural work, Quinnipiac’s contribution will allow the installation of living quarters for male and female firefighters to include bunk areas, a new kitchen, living area and bathrooms.
The upgrades will support a pressing need to make the building suitable for career firefighters, Januszewski said.
“The second floor of the station has essentially been unfinished for 12 years and that has had a significant impact on our ability to recruit and retain volunteers,” Januszewski said. “We hope to be able to continue to have volunteers at the building, but because there are so few volunteers left, we need to put career staff there sooner than later, and we need the station to be able to accommodate that.”
Januszewski said Quinnipiac’s continuing support to the town, including funding that has specifically assisted the NHFD, is much appreciated.
“I look at this latest contribution as Quinnipiac doubling down on that support,” he added. “They’ve helped us with developing the rear of the Northeast station into a training facility that has revolutionized training for the North Haven Fire Department.”
The training area, a first for the NHFD, includes a newly constructed, five-story training tower. Now in operation for more than a year, the facility allows the NHFD to conduct a number of different fire training scenarios. The training facility also serves other area fire agencies as needed, Januszewski said.
“Now, the fire station that sits right in front of the training station is going to be funded further by Quinnipiac, to take care of future staffing needs,” Januszewski said.