By Chris Patterson
Contributing Writer

Thurmont’s Guardian Hose Company is planning a $1.8 million new building that could be completed as early as the end of 2006, according to Building Chairman Terry Frushour.

Frushour said the three current structures on the company site on N. Church Street will be demolished and a new building will be built to house the current equipment. The main fire hall, the brush truck building and metal shed will be torn down.

While the project is going on, the company will try to house its equipment – which includes a new squad car purchased for $459,000 – in garages within the community.

A committee was formed two to three years ago to identify the needs of the all-volunteer fire company and to get the project started. The committee considered the size of the town, the service area and the equipment needed, Frushour said.

General contracting company Morgan Keller of Frederick will be working on the project, according to Frushour, and they hope to have a plan for the new building around the end of July.

The project will begin sometime in early 2006, with completion about nine months later, Frushour said. Financing will come from grants, fund-raising efforts and a loan, as needed, he added.

Volunteers for committees to plan and implement fund-raising are needed and Frushour hopes the community will jump in and help.

“We just need support when we start our fundraising,” Frushour said. “(The building is) not just for us but for the whole community.”

Thurmont mayor Martin Burns said the town would be one of the sources of help for the fire company.

“We would always be willing to consider helping the Guardian Hose Company in any endeavor it has going, but until we know the scope we don’t know what we can afford to do,” he said in a phone interview.