The Ewing Senior and Community Center suffered significant damage in an early-morning fire on Sept. 30. The five-alarm blaze destroyed the gymnasium and damaged other parts of the ESCC, rendering the facility unusable.
Firefighters were first dispatched to the center, located on Lower Ferry Road, at about 3 a.m. on a report of an activated fire alarm. They arrived to find the gymnasium, located in the center of the building, fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters and emergency services were called in from a number of neighboring municipalities to assist Ewing Township fire companies before the fire was finally declared under control several hours later. Officials said that the fire, which caused a partial roof collapse, started in the gym, but the exact cause is still under investigation.
The ESCC and outdoor facilities at the center are closed until further notice, and most programs and offices, including Community Affairs and Recreation and the Senior Office, have been relocated to the Hollowbrook Community Center at 320 Hollowbrook Drive.
Mayor Bert Steinmann talked about the situation in a report to the Township Council on Oct. 11.
“My commitment is to rebuild it and rebuild it better than it was,” Steinmann said. “We’re leaning on the insurance companies heavily to get this going.”
He also said that adjustors have been at the site and are going through the process of deciding whether the damaged sections will be replaced or rebuilt.
According to the mayor, rumors that there was damage to the pool area and historic bath houses designed by famous architect Louis Kahn are untrue. Steinmann added that none of the building itself is historic, so the town doesn’t have to worry about jumping through those types of regulatory hoops while rebuilding.
Meanwhile, “we’re trying to maintain all of the activities that we currently had at the ESCC,” he said. There are some that we won’t be able to—like the Pool Sharks. The (pool) tables are all destroyed, so we won’t be able to do anything about that.”
There will be swimming pool and summer camp seasons in 2023. The mayor said that some groups will be inconvenienced, and he asked that people bear with the township, “as we get through this particular tragedy, but we will get through it. There’s no question about it.”
Firefighters work to put out the fire at the Ewing Senior and Community Center on Sept. 30, 2022. (Ewing Township Emergency Medical Services Facebook photo.),
