Bourne Votes Today on Police Station, Elementary School Projects

A rendering of the proposed new police station.

A rendering of the proposed new police station.

BOURNE – Voters in Bourne head to the polls today to decide on two major capital projects.

The big ticket item is a proposal to build a new Peebles Elementary School. The $39.9 million facility would replace the current school, which opened in 1953 and is showing signs of disrepair.

Voters will also decide on a proposal for a new $17 million police station. The old station was built in 1958.

Both projects passed overwhelmingly at Special Town Meeting in October, with the police station being approved 617-4 and the Peebles project passing 595-13.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult vote for the Bourne community but it’s really a vote for the future of Bourne,” Superintendent Steven LaMarche said of the school vote.

Taxpayers would be responsible for $24 million of the costs as the Massachusetts School Building Authority will provide $15 million, or 36 percent.

The new school would house all Bourne students from grades 3 through 5 with pre-K through 2ndgrade students attending Bournedale Elementary School.

LaMarche said construction on the new building on Trowbridge Road could commence in late spring or early summer if it is approved by voters. Plans call for the school to be open for fall of 2019.

The new police station would be built in a location adjacent to the Route 6/28 bypass at the end of Armory Road.

“The message that we’ve just been trying to convey is that this station is a real need. It’s not a want,” said Dennis Woodside, the Bourne police chief. “We’ve outlived [the current station’s] usefulness a number of years ago.”

Woodside said the station myriad of problems, including electrical inefficiencies, asbestos issues, a broken boiler and water trouble.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

By MATT McCARTHY and BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter. 

About CapeCod.com NewsCenter

The award-winning CapeCod.com NewsCenter provides the Cape Cod community with a constant, credible source for local news. We are on the job seven days a week.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy