STRATFORD EMS AWARDED 2014 BEAUTIFICATION AWARD FOR MOST IMPROVED PROPERTY

2014 Stratford Beautification Award – Most Improved Property

Stratford EMS would like to thank the Stratford Beautification Committee and Mayor John Harkins for this recognition. It is such an honor to be recognized this year for our work beautifying the property.

Stratford EMS takes great pride in our role within the community and we are dedicated to extending that same sense of pride to all areas of the work we do.

Over the past year, we have taken great steps to upgrade, enhance and beautify the property.  The facility had no numerical identification visible from the road which we felt was a hazard.  In selecting numbers to be affixed to the exterior, SEMS selected a faux rout iron finish in an elegant font to be affixed above the front door of the facility.

The facility has two main access doors that were weathered from our coastal environmental conditions.  These doors were sanded, treated and re-stained.  The trim surrounding these doors is made of very old, intricately carved wood.  This also had to be carefully sanded and painted.  All entryway doors have been given new door mats which bear Stratford EMS logo.  Above the front of the building are four dormered windows that were also sanded and painted due to weathering.

The facility already had very nice dark iron lantern sconces affixed to the exterior at all main entry way doors.  Most of these lights had not worked properly in years.  While SEMS has very professional signage on the front lawn, as well as a recently updated American Flag, the signage was not properly illuminated and the lighting for the flag was not working.  We recently fixed all exterior lighting with energy efficient bulbs and installed professional lighting to wash the front sign.  All exterior lighting operates on solar timers.

Our facility is equipped with four (4) ambulance bays to house our response vehicles.  None of the bay doors are properly numbered which

EMS Receives Beautification Award
Photo Credit: Stratford Star

creates challenges when backing vehicles into the bays.  There was a need to place numbers on the glass doors which would be viewable from the outside/road however, we did not want to detract from the curb appeal and standard it had set for our facility beautification project.  It was decided that elegant, frosted numbers could be affixed to the inside of the glass bay doors and that this would solve our logistical/operational problems while maintaining the intent and integrity of our beautification project. This was completed.

Finally, our landscaping was very over gown, full of weeds and the grass was dead.  We ultimately created low maintenance flower beds surrounding the signage and flag areas as well as the area between the EMS facility and the Fire Department Headquarters.  These areas have a fresh bed of dark brown mulch. The remaining areas were re-graded and planted with fresh sod.

There are two high traffic/use areas that we did not want damaged by future use.  There is now a short slate walkway providing access to the flag.  There is also a gravel drainage area just under the regularly used fire hydrant so that the remaining sod is not damaged when the fire department conducts pump testing at that hydrant.

The strip of grass between the EMS facility and the old AT&T building was also sodded, cleaned up and fresh mulch installed around the existing tree.  For consistency, the same treatments were done to the rear of the facility as well.

This past holiday season, SEMS also updated it’s outdoor holiday lighting and placed a beautiful wreath at the front door. This has become a new tradition.

The majority of this work was either coordinated and/or completed by volunteers.  We thank all of those who helped us achieve this goal.

Stratford EMS is committed to maintaining a beautifully manicured and well-kept property. We look forward to continuing our efforts to maintain and upgrade/update the property moving forward.  By doing this, we not only act as good stewards to this Town owned property but we have also created a safe and pleasant working environment for our staff which helps them focus on doing what they do best.  Serving the community!