The former firehouse, on White Street was home to the Liberty Hose Company for 103 years. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Here’s a once-in-a-century real estate opportunity: a Red Bank firehouse is going up on the auction block.
The former home of the Liberty Hose Company, vacated late last year over needed upgrades that the borough says it cannot afford, is to be auctioned off on March 18.
Opening bid: $475,000. The property is assessed at $782,400, though no taxes are currently collected because it’s owned by the town.
Sealed bids must be submitted by 10 a.m. the day of the auction, along with a check for $750 plus 10 percent of the bid amount.
The 103-year-old building, with a garage big enough for a couple of Escalades, is located between the Bow Tie Cinemas movie theater and the south gate of a vacant lot that was formerly the site of a Meridian-owned nursing home. The site was approved in 2008 for 27 condos that haven’t been built.
The Liberty Hose company moved in November to the home of the Red Bank First Aid Squad, on Spring Street.
Here’s the resolution on the auction that’s up for approval at Wednesday night’s council meeting: RB resolution 14-35