City Set to Finalize Sale of Historic Fire Engine House

A sale is pending for the and is set to be approved by the Port Washington Common Council at its Tuesday meeting.

Bette Langford plans to open an art gallery and studio in the building, which earned state and national recognition as a historic site in 2009. Langford has left fliers in local businesses seeking artists to fill the gallery spaces.

"I am in the process of opening an art gallery with studios in Port Washington," the flier said. "The main floor will house the gallery in two rooms. There will be wall space for rent, a few floor spaces and glass cases for other art. ... My goal is to have a comfortable gallery that will appeal to the general public."

Reached by e-mail on Monday, she confirmed the building in question is the fire engine house but declined further comment.

The historic fire engine house, 102 E. Pier St., became available after the  moved to a new location. Historical society members had hoped the city would lease the building to the group for a $1 a year, similiar to an arrangement they have with the city for the , where the society .

But the city said it needed to sell the building in order to pay for upgrades to the new senior center location. City Administrator Mark Grams said there are no other buildings in city ownership that could be sold to make up for that missing money, and officials were hoping to recoup about $230,000. Langford bid $188,000, and after commission the city receives $176,720.

Petition Organizer 'Ill' About Pending Sale

City officials could not be immediately reached, but news of a buyer has at least one Port resident

Nancy Haacke, a member of the historical society who helped , said she felt "ill" after hearing the news of the near sale.

"(The petition and controversy was a) really was a hard thing to go through," Haacke said. "The thousand signatures that we got — people were so positive, it was such a great experience going door-to-door. There was rarely anyone that said 'no' to us. I don’t think (the city) even looked at the list of people."

Haacke said she feels continued efforts to stop the sale were outright ignored by the city, and called the lack of citizen representation by council members a "crime."

"I was not representing the historical society when I (worked on the petition)," she said. "I did this as a citizen — as citizens we had paid for this, and (this building is) a treasure."

Haacke said the proposed use of the building puts a small bandage on the pain she feels about the sale.

"I was thinking that one of the purposes of the building would be something that would be enjoyed by the tourists and the citizens to go to," she said. "I was hoping it would be someone that would donate to the city ... I still wish there was a donation — but if it’s someone with art, I have a feeling that they’ll treat the building with respect."

The Common Council meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the . The sale is not final until the council approves it.