Article may spark new fire house
Published on April 30th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - The first phase of a possible Stoneham Fire Station relocation could come to fruition next Monday night, May 5, if Stoneham voters decide to approve Article 19 at the Annual Town Meeting. The article would potentially appropriate $60,000 to obtain appraisal information on each of the five properties on South Main Street, Spencer Street and Hancock Street designated for the new station, and to obtain a preliminary design for the roughly $7-8 million new station.
During an informational presentation to Stoneham business and community leaders last Monday night, engineers from the Maguire Group explained the two projects.
Stoneham Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey, before the presentation, disagreed that endorsing Article 19 necessarily equals an endorsement for the new location, but instead simply provides firmer numbers to the residents of Stoneham.
"Right now we are basing our numbers on the assessed values of the properties, and we all know that assessed and actual property values are two different things," said Lamey. "We need to get this done to get some real numbers, and move ahead."
Lamey also indicated that if Article 19 is successful, forming a Fire Station Building Committee would be a logical next step.
"When we're looking at this station, we have to look at and anticipate the department's needs for the next 50-100 years," said Lamey. "This building will probably outlast all of us."
During the informational presentation, engineers from the Maguire Group explained their location options, and the cost associated with each of them.
According to Maguire Group Vice-President David Morrow, a new station at the South Main Street site would cost an estimated $7.1 million based on the assessed value of the properties.
Morrow also painted a picture of an antiquated Central Street fire station badly in need of a facelift--or a complete makeover.
"We did a complete study of the department's needs and the current station, and found that the department needs an additional 9,000 square feet of space," said Morrow of the current 17,000 square foot facility. "There would have to be a significant amount of demolition to meet the department's current needs."
Morrow presented a more vague price-tag of $7-8.5 million to reconstruct at the Central Street site, but warned that re-habbing old buildings can be full of headaches and hidden costs.
"There is certainly a scenario where both locations could end up being equal in cost," said Morrow. "But, I know from experience, you don't know what you're going to find once you start opening up the walls in old building. There could be all kinds of additional costs that could raise the price of the project."
"There's also the fact that the station is on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, and the State's Historical Commission would have a say on what could and couldn't be torn down," said Morrow.
Morrow also termed the station's current location as "tight" within the downtown as it abutts two residences and a municipal parking lot.
"We know that municipal parking is at a premium, and we'd like to try to avoid taking parking spaces," said Morrow.
Either location would have to improve on its predecessor in several areas including inadequate turning space for apparatus exiting the station, inadequate living and administration space, bay doors that aren't high enough to accomodate modern fire apparatus, and several health issues that have cropped up simply out of space limitations.
"Right now the kitchen is right next to the motor bay, and you can just see the diesel soot on the walls," said Lamey. "You know that it's getting into the food and the lungs of our firefighters, and I'd like to rectify that as soon as possible."
Morrow explained that the South Main Street site would allow for many of the desired features, and would also act as a "gateway" to the southern end of Stoneham.
"There was a point in time when people thought that it was a good idea to have both departments in close proximity to each other," said Morrow. "But we're finding that there is a trend toward separating the two public safety departments in town. Communities are still getting the white powdery envelopes in the mail and it (adjacent stations) could potentially paralyze both departments."
Several audience members voiced concern about longer response times to the northern part of the city from a southerly location, but Lamey and Morrow both described the lost time as "negligible."
Morrow estimated that an additional 30 seconds could be added to response times in certain areas, but that mutual aid from neighboring towns would be a factor in a quick response time.
Morrow also mentioned that the department would have to temporarily relocate if the town chose to rebuild at the Central Street site.
"The department would have to find a different headquarters for up to 24 months, and that could be both expensive and disruptive," said Morrow.
Town Planner Mike Gallerani also explained that there could be a bright commercial future for the Central Street station location. Gallerani's Office and the Stoneham Historical have been working to find a list of re-use possibilities for the 87 year-old Stoneham institution.
"We are already in negotiations with the five property owners, and I'm confident we'll another commercial spot in town for the tire store owners," said Gallerani.
Gallerani and Lamey also expressed that the design and appraisal work was merely preparation for better fiscal times or public safety facility grant availability.
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