SHREWSBURY – It’s been nearly a year since the groundbreaking of the new Shrewsbury Police Station.
Since, visitors to the Shrewsbury Town Hall campus and driving past along Maple Avenue have been eagerly watching as the new station was built.
“From the outside, it’s starting to take on the appearance of a finished building,” said Board of Selectmen Chair and Police Station Building Committee member Moe DePalo.
Crews broke ground last Sept.
Back in 2020, Shrewsbury residents approved a $42 million debt exclusion to fund the new station.
Last summer, plans for the station were approved by the Planning Board. The plans call for a building that is nearly double the footprint of the existing station, which was built in 1971 and renovated in 1996. Crews began working on clearing the site for the new station before officially breaking ground in September.
In January, local leaders and community members gathered to sign a beam to be placed in the station as the town held a topping off ceremony for the project.
“There’s been a dramatic difference in the building since January,” said DePalo.
Progress so far on the project
Anderson gave the Community Advocate a tour of the new station.
Some of the rooms already have paint on the walls.
The new police station will be 41,500 square feet and is meant to last 50 years.
It boasts two community rooms, which will be able to be used by other town departments and community members; a training room that will be able to seat 50 people and serve as an emergency operating center and a MILO training room in which police officers will train and react to various scenarios.
The new call room for officers will be able to accommodate two different shifts at once. The current station has space for only eight officers to attend roll call.
One of the rooms on the tour was the wellness facility.
Anderson noted that one of the pillars of 21st century policing is officer wellness and safety. The facility will help officers to decompress and maintain their health, he said.
“The occupational fatality rate for law enforcement is three- to five-times greater than the national average for the working population,” he said. “The officers who protect us must also be protected against incapacitating physical, mental and emotional problems, as well as against the hazards at their job.”
Station to be completed next year
Anderson estimates that the station will be completed around Jan. 1, though it may take the department about eight weeks to move into the new station.
Shrewsbury police are hoping to move into the new station by March 1.
Meanwhile, Anderson said watching the construction of the new station has been a morale booster for the officers.
“Especially [when] it’s been right next to our old building [and] we’ve needed a new building for so long,” Anderson said. “The officers are actually able to watch the building go up, and we do tours so they can see the inside progress as well.”
For a video of the police station, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvF8fPuQIk.
RELATED CONTENT
Planning Board approves new Shrewsbury Police Station plans
Work starts on new Shrewsbury police station
Shrewsbury leaders break ground on the new police station
Shrewsbury holds topping off ceremony at new police station
