Cumberland police station nears completion
CUMBERLAND – As Mayor William Murray winds up his two terms in office in the weeks ahead, a major project he spearheaded, construction of the town’s new $11.3 million public safety complex at 1379 Diamond Hill Road, is also heading toward completion.
The question yet to be answered is whether Murray will get to snip the ribbon on the new town building before he ends his current term in January.
Murray lost his bid for re-election to fellow Democrat Jeffrey Mutter in the Sept. 12 town Demo- cratic primary and Mutter is heading into the upcoming Nov. 6 election unopposed.
Mutter’s election as mayor would technically make Jan. 4 Murray’s last full day in office, with the town’s inauguration ceremony to be held on Sunday Jan. 6.
And while he admits to still being disappointed over his campaign loss to Mutter in the Democratic polling on Sept. 12 – Mutter bested him with 2,888 votes to Murray’s 2,484 – Murray is looking to completion of the complex as one of the capstone successes of his administration, which also include the town’s acquisition the 229-acre Mercy Woods open space preserve from the Sisters of Mercy Northeast and the purchase of eight acres from the Pascale family off High Street for a new town highway barn.
“Right now, we are looking at mid-December to the end of December,” Murray said of the expected completion of the Public Safety Complex this year.
The project had started last fall but ran into some slow ups over the hard winter, and then a round of rainy weather off and on this year, according to Murray.
“I just met with the contractor yesterday, the Calson Corp., and they are still behind a little because
of all the rain that we had,” Murray said.
Rhode Island in fact experienced about double the amount of rain it normally gets in September this year and there have been additional storms this month.
Painting work on the complex, a one-story, 22,000 square foot building designed for the town rescue service, Cumberland Fire District administrative offices and the police department, has resumed and Murray said sheet rock is also going up
on the interior partitions.
“We are still below budget and I think the project has been well managed,” Murray said while crediting the town’s Public Safety Complex building committee with keeping tabs on the project’s progress and funding.
Murray also had praise for the Calson Corp. of Johnston which is constructing the building designed by Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc., architects with site layout by DiPrete Engineering.
“Carlson Corp. has very good people to work with and it has been very smooth going with no problems at all,” Murray said.
The only factor to be disappointed in was the rain, Murray noted, and there isn’t much that can be done about the weather.
“They had caught up a bit over the summer but it has been a tough fall,” Murray said.
As the work comes to a close, Murray said he hopes to have a ribbon cutting ceremony with all the principals involved before the end of the year.
The building is not expected to be furnished completely at that time and the Police Department and other agencies moving in will need more time than that to make the transition, he said.
The Chief John J. Partington Police Headquarters Building is located across the street from the new facility and the department is expected to transfer its equipment while still making use of its current location.
With the Fire District offices and Rescue also needing to move, Murray said that process will likely continue through January into February.
The rescue service will be located in the left side of the complex where a garage bay is located and the police department to the right with its sally port and utilities to the rear of that section.
The complex will also feature a 70-seat community room that will be used by the town Emergency Management Agency for special events and also be available for public use, Murray noted.
Holding the ribbon cutting before the move into the building will allow local residents to visit the new complex and take tour to see what it offers, Murray noted.
Murray plans to issue a better forecast and schedule for the opening as the project is wrapped up. “It will be nice to have people come in and see what has been done,” he said.