The need is evident and it's two-fold: the building is antiquated with repairs and maintenance running about $100,000 a year and it's too small to effectively and efficiently house the volunteers and apparatus. Still, firefighters at Stanford Heights know convincing the some 3,400 taxpayers in the 7.9-square-mile district to pay for a new fire house will not be easy. "The biggest obstacle is the perception of ‘you are building something too big, and you really don't need it,'" said Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners Kevin Hulett. "But we really don't have a lot of options." The district, established in 1920, built the fire house at 2240 Central Ave. and a secondary firehouse on the other side of the rail road tracks on Morris Road to cover the "wildfire prone" Pine Bush Preserve in 1955.