EDITOR’S NOTE: The Bricks & Mortar Report provides updates on major construction projects in Chenango County.

Chenango County Fire Department Tower Project:
• Microwave equipment for the county’s emergency communications system has arrived and should be installed in early December on newly erected towers in Pharsalia, Otselic, Greene and Coventry.
• Emergency Management Deputy Director Mike Beckwith and Fire Coordinator Matt Beckwith said after testing is completed, base radios and other transmission equipment will then go up.
• The system isn’t expected to be in full service until fall 2009, however the connector line from the former Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch Center in the City of Norwich to the Public Safety Facility, located miles south of the city, is due to come down in January or February.

COS Wireless:
• Verizon’s retail agent, located in the Save-A-Lot strip mall off state Rt. 12 South in Norwich, was completely gutted and renovated last week to accommodate 300 new square feet of showroom and service space.
• The work was begun and completed in a day and was one of five COS Wireless store renovations in New York and Pennsylvania. COS Wireless stores are owned and operated by Karen and Chuck Kovacs of Pennsylvania.
• The space will showcase Verizon’s line of personal digital assistant devices, Push to Talk phones and wireless Internet products and services for businesses and residents.
• The store employs four and is the only retail agent for Verizon in a 45-mile radius. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.

Northeast Classic Car Museum Expansion:
• The Northeast Classic Car Museum recently announced plans to expand by nearly 50 percent. Expansion was made possible when, approximately two years ago, the museum acquired a nearby 30,000 square feet building that adjoins the existing Rexford Street museum.
• The building’s roof was replaced and the interior gutted. Contractors demolished the dropped ceilings to find original hardwood ceiling planks which were sandblasted and painted. The museum plans to take advantage of the building’s windows and elevated center space to complement exhibits. 
• The building will be completely renovated to include new exterior wall covering to be consistent with the rest of the museum’s buildings, new windows, insulation, electrical, and heating, ventilation and cooling systems.
• This is the second major expansion in the Northeast Classic Car Museum’s 11 years of existence. More than half of the project’s estimated cost has been committed by George Staley and with a donation from NBT Bank.
• “The Northeast Classic Car Museum is one of the area’s great success stories and NBT is pleased to be an early contributor as the Museum takes another step forward in its phenomenal growth,” Martin A. Dietrich, chief executive officer of NBT Bank, said in a press release.
• According to Sewain Conklin, president of the board of trustees, the expansion would elevate the museum as a significant automotive museum and tourist attraction in the New York.
• The building being renovated is at least 70 years old. It once housed Bennett-Ireland, a manufacturer of fire place equipment, Gee Wiliker’s clothing manufacturers and, more recently, the Label Gallery.
• Currently, the Museum has on exhibit approximately 120 automobiles and is open 9a.m.-5p.m. daily, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.