Police Station Move Tricky
By Robin Vinci at July 28, 2024 | 8:00 am | Print
As the new police station construction finishes, the move into it will soon begin. The most important part about it will be to do it right.
“Chief (James) Wardwell is working on a detailed game plan,” said Mayor Tim O’Brien.
There are some items to be moved which can be tricky.
For instance, criminal evidence that is still being used or will be used.
“If a criminal case is pending you need to be able to establish very clearly a chain of custody of evidence,” said O’Brien. “You can’t leave anything at doubt for a defense attorney.”
O’Brien said the process should begin in November and will probably take two months before the entire department is in the new building.
“There is no shut down time and we will work through the process as quickly as possible while not doing anything to compromise service to the public,” he said.
O’Brien also confirmed that presently there are two spots available for rent in the building and three requests from businesses.
“We are deciding on the specific considerations,” said O’Brien. “We hope to have successful businesses and a good fit.”
The businesses are ready to move in and open up, but will not do so until the police station opens.
At that time the streetscape portion of the project, which includes the area on Main St. next to the station will also open up. It will be a pocket park allowing for parking.
“It’s a good opportunity to allow for parking for businesses downtown,” O’Brien added.
The park may be temporary until the economy is better and a firm purchases the lot.
The plan calls for the relocating of the police memorial to be in the park and will have possibly a sitting area and about 32 parking spaces.
There will also be a path leading to the parking garage.
