Wilmington City Council on Thursday narrowly approved selling a historic city firehouse to a local doctor to convert into his personal home, ending a campaign from the city firefighters' union to acquire the property.
Last year, the council voted to approve giving the firehouse to the union, over the objections of Mayor Mike Purzycki's administration, which had chosen a bid from the developer Montchanin Group to purchase it for $315,000.
Montchanin had planned to convert the firehouse into six apartments. The plan drew opposition from neighbors, who supported the firefighters' proposal to turn the building into a museum showcasing Wilmington Fire Department history.
The firehouse on Gilpin Avenue in the Forty Acres neighborhood has been vacant since it closed in 2015.