BOURNE – The new Bourne police station will not have a vacant second floor space to accommodate future expansion.
In a unanimous vote, The Bourne Police Facility Building Committee decided against including add-on space in the construction plans.
Chief Dennis Woodside explained the reasoning for the initial idea. “We’re trying to build a building that will last at least 30-to-35 years. There was an area on the second floor that we didn’t need built right now, so we looked at would that be a good potential to shell that area in,” he said.
“Basically put up the walls, put in the windows, not really finish it, and that would be for expansion.”
The area was to have covered about 6000 square feet.
Upon further study, Woodside decided that the building’s design without the extra space would be more than adequate for decades. Cost was a major factor.
“We made a recommendation not to pursue that at this time. The estimated cost was approximately $1.3 million which we thought was very excessive,” he said.
The new station will be located along the bypass road in Buzzards Bay and will have a square footage around 26,000 feet, making it roughly three times the size of the current station, which has a long list of serious problems.
These include asbestos and black mold, flooding, outdated mechanical and electrical systems, and no secure location to bring prisoners into the station. The building also does not meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
