Article originally published here.
The city school district has paid $268,361.97 to a private security firm over the past 20 months for fire watch services at the long-vacant Board of Education headquarters in downtown Paterson, officials said.
Paterson Fire Chief Alex Alicea said the fire watch was imposed because flooding in the building’s basement created a hazard with electrical panels in that area. Also, the building does not have a fire alarm system, Alicea said.
Paterson education officials have been talking about selling the building at 33-35 Church St. for more than a decade.
About a year ago, the district and representatives of the Passaic County government discussed the county placing a homeless shelter in the building. But that plan fell through. So, the school board voted in early March to move ahead on the sale.
The fire watch started in late July 2024, with the district paying its security vendor, Allied Universal, $31.82 per hour for the services, according to a statement issued on behalf of Dalton Price, the director of school safety.
“The district paid an average of $2,848 per week for the 2024-2025 school year and an average of $3,249 per week for the 2025-2026 school year, to date,” the statement said.
School board member Kenneth Simmons alerted Paterson Press to the fire watch payments at the vacant headquarters. Simmons said the building had deteriorated to the point that it became too dangerous to enter.
He said rehabilitating the structure, which has a facade designated for historic preservation, would cost as much as $50 million.
“It didn’t make sense financially,” Simmons said.
Alicea said the fire watch requirements are that someone check the building hourly.
At the rate the district is paying its security vendor, Paterson Public Schools has so far paid for about 8,433 hours of fire watch, the equivalent of 351 days.
