By Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl
Lowell Sun
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
TEWKSBURY, Mass. – A decontamination area may seem trivial, but local fire officials say it has become essential as they find themselves on the front lines dealing with chemical spills and hazardous materials.
It is also just one in a long list of shortages at the Center Fire Station.
“It’s becoming a huge issue,” Fire Chief Richard Mackey said. “Something is going to have to give.”
The Fire Department Long-Range Planning Committee agrees. After months spent studying the station’s needs, the committee has chosen to recommend building a brand-new station to the tune of about $9 million.
Remodeling the existing, 41-year-old Center Fire Station, which has been plagued by everything from leaky roofs to a garage that can barely house modern fire engines, would come with a $3 million to $5 million price tag, committee members said.
“Throwing good money at that structure is really throwing it over your shoulder. We still would end up with a building that doesn’t serve our needs,” Selectman John Ryan said. “Or we can look to the next 30 years and build something that’s going to go forward.”
The Hopkinton-based Carell Group has already designed a new 18,200-square-foot Center Station. It would be made up of two floors to separate public and private spaces -- a feature woefully lacking in the existing station, architect Gregory Carell said.
The first floor would have offices and conference rooms for fire officials and their administrative staff, as well as for the station’s two emergency medical technicians, whose office is currently set up in what used to be a closet.
It would also house the station’s communication center and a meeting room that would accommodate the entire staff for training sessions, be open to the public and serve as a backup emergency-operations center.
Toward the rear of the building would be six drive-through bays for fire engines and ambulances, as well as a tower to hang drying hoses and conduct training in. The decontamination area and ample storage space for supplies and equipment would be nearby.
The second floor, meanwhile, would house a fitness room and the firefighters’ living quarters, including separate male and female lockers, toilets and showers. The current station has no separate facilities.
But what the Center Station’s firefighters may be most excited about leaving behind are their space heaters, Mackey said.
Town Manager David Cressman said the new station would also meet the firefighters’ “changing environment and changing mission.”
“We’re serving the public, but we’re limping,” Fire Department Lo ng-Range Planning Committee Chairwoman Joan Dunlevy added. “If we have a catastrophic event, we may not be able to serve the public.”
The committee is planning to present their plans to voters during next year’s May Town Meeting. A townwide election for a debt exemption would likely follow. But first, the committee intends to present its recommendations to selectmen and Finance Committee officials early next year.