Sandwich Public Safety Officials Excited to Move Forward with New Facility

COURTESY OF THE SANDWICH POLICE DEPARTMENT A rendering of the proposed police and fire facility at Quaker Meeting House Road and Cotuit Road.

COURTESY OF THE SANDWICH POLICE DEPARTMENT
A rendering of the proposed police and fire facility at Quaker Meeting House Road and Cotuit Road.

SANDWICH – Several years after town officials began discussing a new public safety facility, building plans can now move forward.

Last week voters approved a $17 million debt exclusion to build a new police headquarters and fire substation at Cotuit and Quaker Meetinghouse Roads.

Police Chief Peter Wack said the new facility is expected to be open in early 2019.

Wack said both departments’ are glad to know the new facility is coming.

“We are excited as a group to move forward and we really truly appreciate the community’s support in this project because without them we wouldn’t be able to move forward,” Wack said.

The current police headquarters will require temporary fixes while the new building is built.

“I think what’s important for the community to know is during the transition period there won’t be any change in our services to the community,” Wack said.

The departments will also make a concerted effort to keep the public up to date on the development of the facility through their social media outlets.

The new police headquarters will be a 13,000-square-foot space.

The fire components include moving the Forestdale station moving to a new substation at Cotuit and Quaker Meetinghouse Roads. An addition was also approved at the East Sandwich fire station, but voters rejected funding that would staff the East sandwich facility full-time.

The current police station was built in the early 1970s when the department had 9 employees. Currently, the department has 61 total employees, including 45 full-time.

The current building has flooding issues which affects the town’s EMS and fire and police communications equipment are located.

“It’s also a facility where we have to have people work and the public has to be able to come into the building safely and right now this building doesn’t have the safety aspects that are industry standard throughout the country,” Wack said. “The new facility is going to completely address that.”

The new facility will provide separate locker rooms for male and female officers and firefighters, which the current stations lack.

The emergency management director will also have a state-of-the-art emergency operation center.

“When we have hurricanes, tropical storms, winter storms or any type of natural or manmade disaster that happens in our community, he will be able to have a place to manage that situation very well,” Wack said.

By 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.

Speak Your Mind

*



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