Trying to get both a police station that Wilton needs and one it can afford is the challenge that the Police HQ/Town Hall Building Committee and Tecton Architects took on after Wilton’s Board of Selectmen asked them to shave off about $2 million from an original $16 million concept for a new Police headquarters.
With a target of $14 million and limited time, Tecton presented its revised proposal last week, for a new construction project that would be situated in between Town Hall and the current police building.
At 16,800 sq. ft. down from 19,500 sq. ft., the proposal offers a new design that the architects said met almost all of the scope of requirements but took making some “huge cuts” in square footage and some elements of the police program. They acknowledged having to make “compromises, some more critical than others.”
Once the committee presents the proposal to the Board of Selectmen, town officials and the public will have to determine if they’ll accept what police and town officials say they can’t live without and would like to add back.
“We talked about certain compromises we’re unwilling to make and would be fiscally irresponsible to spend tax money in that way, or that would be a hazard to officers themselves,” said Rebecca Hopkins of Techton.
“There’s a lot of reasons and decisions behind the spaces that were left and the reasons why we took spaces out. I think the positive here is that this hits that $14 million number, and from a department standpoint meets the majority of the need. Are there compromises? Yes. Does it meet every single need? No.”
One money-saving element of the new proposal includes where the building would be located. The original plan involved knocking down the Annex Building; this revision would not. Police officers could work in the current building during construction.
The two story new building would add elements missing from the station police have now: public bathrooms; a multifunction swing space that would serve as public meeting room, emergency operations center and training; improved locker rooms for both male and female officers; and ADA-compliant access.
The design also includes a briefing/roll call room; prisoner booking, processing and holding area, including three cells; an evidence storage area and lab; weapons and armory; kitchenette; interview room; offices for lieutenants, a garage bay and dispatch.
Hopkins said every possible opportunity to shrink spaces was looked at–from the armory and weapons storage to office space. The design even reduced the number of prisoner cells from four to three. Another space that was eliminated was a ‘soft’ interview room–one that could be used for juveniles and victims. Committee member Jack Suchy questioned that choice, asking whether the number of cases that would need such a space justified adding it back in.
“We do have cases throughout the year where we do interview juveniles and we do have domestic violence victims that come in and it would be very helpful to have a room like that. But it just wasn’t in the cards unfortunately,” Capt. Tom Conlan explained.
Tecton’s Hopkins suggested a conference space off of the public meeting room as a compromise, but not without drawbacks.
“We talked about privacy. Typically they are victims. They don’t want to feel like they’re being interrogated. They’re probably already uncomfortable. We talked about visibility though because it is right in the front of the building. So how we treat these windows will be important,” she explained.
There were more concessions in space reflected in the design.
“You’ll notice there’s not a lot of storage. We took the opportunity to combine a lot of spaces–there’s not a separate room for every single function, we looked for opportunities to overlap that space. We’ll work with the department to meet those needs, but we’re trying to be efficient.”
One big compromise in the space reduction was in a carport, something Hopkins said was a critical need. Tecton was able to squeeze one that fits 16 cruisers into the footprint of the rear staff parking lot, but no other department vehicles. Protecting the fleet from weather is something money-saving in the long run because it extends the life of the equipment.
“There is a cost with replacement when it comes to the cruisers and equipment being exposed to the elements, versus opportunities to cover that equipment. That helps with town expenses over the life cycle of those pieces,” Hopkins explained, noting that some vehicles like the Emergency Response Trailer won’t be covered. “Those are the compromises that could potentially incur costs to the town long term.”
Police Chief John Lynch gave his assessment: “We’re at that point where I don’t envision us being able to cut any more without it being too much–but we can make it work.”
Capt. Rob Cipolla pointed out the other sacrifices that were made in the decisions about what to eliminate.
“I’m surprisingly pleased with what Tecton came up with, given the additional cuts… we’ve already shaved 8,000 sq. ft. off of what was originally proposed. Compared to the statement of requirements–I know it’s been talked about as something separate and not going to happen in this project, but there’s no firearms range, there’s no updates to the animal shelter–those are all stuff that we’re not getting that was identified in the statement of requirements as needs.”
Communicating just how unique the design is to the public is something the committee acknowledged as critical–especially when it came to answering the pushback heard very often.
“One thing we come across from a public safety standpoint, this is unlike any other typical construction. You cannot compare a police station to a corporate office. There is a plethora of infrastructure and equipment that is incorporated into a facility of this type, just from security, access control, emergency support and generation. It’s a very densely packed building and cannot be compared. People will say, ‘You could build that cheaper.’ There’s a misundertanding of square footage cost,” Hopkins explained, pointing to what goes into elements like the cell block and dispatch. really expensive sq feet. totally different spectrum than office building. “There’s a lot more that goes into police station than the public sees. That in not only for their security and the officers’ security and for their ability to service the town appropriately.”
Another anticipated objection the committee expects is the comparison to a new police station built recently in Bethel–one that was larger and according to Conlan cost $15 million. Hopkins said it is important to consider three years of cost escalation and pricing that was originally bid more than five years ago.
“When was it built because you have to adjust for the market and escalation; You’ll want to understand what’s in there, and were there any compromises made?”
Tecton will now firm up numbers with an estimator in order to move forward to next steps–bringing the proposal to the Board of Selectmen on Feb. 3 and the Board of Finance, before holding at least one public meeting for residents to learn more–all with the ultimate goal of a public referendum at the Annual Town Meeting in May.
This is not the place to skimp and try to save money. This is a place that houses a vital element of the community and enables them to function efficiently and effectively.
These people provide our safety and our security. They even risk their lives when called upon to act on our behalf.
We owe it to them to provide a proper and adequate base and home for their many activities. Day and night they work for us. Let’s be sure that they have the right and complete facilities to enable them to perform in optimum fashion.
If in doubt, try naming something or someone else in this Town more concerned and trusted with your safety and security.