New police station work starting late this summer

» Construction on the new police station is slated to begin by the end of the summer.

“The design and the layout of the building is set in stone,” said interim Police Chief Aaron Kennedy. “At the last meeting we were looking at tile and paint colors, and we have had meetings about security and cameras. It is looking good, it’s promising.”

Mayor Dean Mazzarella reiterated that there will be no tax increase, and no debt exclusion or override, to pay for $26 million project that has been over two decades in the making.

“It is coming along well, we have never made it this far,” said

Mazzarella. “We have a great committee, everyone brings something different. Someone from the neighborhood, finances, an accountant, contractor. It has really worked out well.”

Mazzarella said they hope to get in at least half of the construction before the colder months set back in.

“Then they can maybe put up a tent and work on it over the winter,” he said. “It is very exciting.”

Kennedy said electronic kiosks will be placed in the lobby of the new building. People can look for or file all kinds of reports including accidents and request reports at the kiosks, “minor stuff, which will keep the officers free for more pressing

calls.”

The station is being designed so that firearms, domestic violence, and community outreach will be set up on the “civilian side” of the building, which will be off to the right inside the main entrance.

“It is designed really well so it works in a certain way,” Kennedy said.

“They won’t be coming into the daily operations of the running of the Police Department.”

Kennedy said the process of planning and designing the new police station “has been an interesting process.”

“There has been lots of going back and forth about the layout so it is nice and smooth and very efficient,” he said, adding that the new building will offer a lot more space for the department.

“We are always looking for more space, we are on top of each other here,” he said of the current police station on Church Street.

Kennedy grew up in the area where the station will be built, in place of the old Lincoln School on Cross Street.

“I played Wiffle ball with my friends there,” he said. “It is going to be really good for the neighborhood down there.”

Kaestle Boos Associates Inc. designed the 30,000-square-foot facility, and crews from Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation in Westminster took down houses and a warehouse last June to clear the site. Tentative project plans presented to the police station building committee in January estimated the project will be completed sometime in 2022.

COURTESY CITY OF LEOMINSTER An architect’s rendering of the approved design of the city's proposed new police station that was designed by Kaestle Boos Associates Inc. architectural firm.

CLIFF CLARK/ SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE. The clearing of the site for the new Leominster Police Department is nearly completed. The Lincoln School on Cross Street was razed by Westminster’s Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation earlier this year. Once the site is cleared, work can begin later this summer on the proposed 35,000- to 40,000-square-foot station, which will replace the city’s current police station on Church Street.