The current Shrewsbury Police Station sits within the Maple Avenue municipal campus in Shrewsbury.
By Laura Hayes, Contributing Writer
SHREWSBURY — The Shrewsbury Planning Board got a first glance at the plans for a new police station May 6.
During their meeting, the board praised the presentation by the project’s architect and project manager.
However, some board members voiced concerns about the proximity of the construction site to the current police department at 106 Maple Ave. They specifically asked whether emergency vehicles would be able to get between the construction fence and the old station.
“I’ve got a bit of concern on the safety aspect,” said Chair Steven Boulay. “… But it is a very close site to be building next to one another.”
The project architect told the Planning Board that they’ve been working with the Shrewsbury Fire Department and would address their concerns.
This is not the last time the Planning Board will see the plans, and the public hearing on the new station was continued to another meeting.
A draft image shows what the Maple Avenue municipal campus will look like with the new Shrewsbury Police Station.
Project takes shape after funding authorization
In November, Shrewsbury voted to authorize a $42 million debt exclusion to both repair and replace the public safety radio system and build the new station.
The new station will be constructed on the Maple Avenue campus, which houses the current police station, Town Hall and the Senior Center.
“The idea here is to create a welcoming environment that sort of draws you into the site rather than just passing along Maple Avenue,” said project architect Matthew Salad.
According to Salad, the station will be constructed to the north and west of the current one. Nearly double the size of the current station, the new facility will offer 31,125 square feet of space.
The architecture will complement the nearby Town Hall with a brick facade. Most of it will be one story, and the highest point — a cupola — will stand at 44 feet tall.
Salad said the new station will be a more “open” and “welcoming” environment.
“I don’t know about all you folks, but police stations are scary places for most of the public,” Salad said. “So, we want to make sure that they feel welcome and can interact in a safe, positive way with their police department.”
Internally, there will be a training room, which can be used by both the police and the public, and public meeting rooms. Salad said the training room will act as the new emergency operations center.
A total of 104 parking spaces will be added to the campus, including 88 in a private police parking lot. There will be a new entrance to this parking lot off Maple Avenue, which will be fenced in and accessible with an access card.
The main entrance to the campus on Maple Avenue will be reconfigured and moved to the west.
The current entrance, which is near a memorial and time capsule, will be turned into a community space with asphalt walking paths, said Project Manager Victoria Houle.
Houle said there will be a new memorial constructed near the training room.
Architect details next steps
Once the new station is constructed, the old station will be demolished.
Until then, Salad said there will be a barrier between the existing station and the construction site.
Fontaine Brothers has been hired as the construction managers. Salad said the workers will not be parking at Town Hall or at neighboring sites. He added that they will be coordinating how their trucks are driving through Shrewsbury and planning ways to reduce vehicle movement in and out of the site during peak traffic times.
