Ball field has ‘risen to the top’ spot for police station
NEW CANAAN — The ball field between the Saxe Middle School and the YMCA on South Avenue has “risen to the top” of nearly 13 sites being considered for a new police station if the present location is not used, an architect said Wednesday.
The estimates for the police project range from $14.7 million to $29 million, according to presentations made by two architects in a joint meeting of the Board of Finance, Town Council and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.
The town is considering three options: renovating the present building, demolishing the old facility and building new on the present location at 174 South Ave., or constructing a new building on a different parcel of townowned land. All preliminary designs include a firing range.
“No selection of the site has been made yet,” Eric Rossi, of Kaestle Boos Associates, said while the firm showed layouts of a few buildings on various sites and a drawing of a possible design for a new building next to the YMCA.
Moynihan had organized a small group earlier this year that quietly checked out 13 possible sites with Kaestle Boos Associates; while simultaneously the police building committee worked with Brian Humes Jacunski Humes Architects on considering the two other options for the existing location.
The town has been looking at alternatives for an updated police department because the 27,000 squarefoot building has “outlived its purpose,” Moynihan said.
The police want a new or updated facility to replace the present building, which was constructed in 1926 as a school and retrofitted for a police station in 1981, because it lacks space for modern law enforcement needs. Forty years ago, town officials did not foresee the need for lockers for female officers, a simulated training area and ample space for computer equipment, police officials say.
The ball field is expected to be a controversial location. Selectman Nick Williams already voiced objections, calling it a “dumb idea” and that he wanted to keep the ball field intact since the view when entering the town from South Avenue reminded him of a “Rockwell painting.”
Other sites the town considered included the Locust Avenue parking lot, a parcel on Oenoke Ridge, land across the street from New Canaan High School, property next to town hall where Vine Cottage and the Old Red Cross building stand, and acres near the Talmadge Hill Railroad Station.
The preliminary design for the new building at the ball field site near the YMCA is fairly modern, since architects were asked to “pick up on design elements of Saxe Middle School,” Rossi said.
Preliminary plans for the new building call for a two-story brick-and-glass building that would be approximately 24,000 to 25,000 square feet and sit on 3.6 acres and have a firing range in the basement.
The architects said one of the benefits of the site was that it is fairly flat, which would make it easy for installing a generator and mechanicals.
The new building would be situated to allow for a soccer or lacrosse field between the new station and driveway into the middle school, according to plans.
That project is estimated to cost $23.5 million, which includes $18.5 million for construction, $2.5 million for new station equipment and another $2.5 million for “indirect costs.”
The construction price could be offset by the sale of the present police station, which Moynihan said he heard could fetch $6 million to $10 million after the police move to the new location.
The most expensive option would be to build a 30,000-square-foot building in the present location, which would cost from $26.3 to $29.3 million, Humes said.
Humes gave two scenarios for renovating the present station, saying it would cost $14.7 to $16. 4 million to renovate the existing building while occupied and $16.2 to $18 million to do the work while the building is vacated.
The group that looked at potential town-owned sites included New Canaan Department of Public Works officials, Moynihan, and former police commissioner Stuart Sawabini.
The next police building committee meeting is Oct. 14.