PLYMPTON – The Public Safety Building Committee met Oct. 3 for their monthly meeting.
Although the new driveway for the station was on the agenda, a perennially hot topic, it was only discussed briefly. After a site visit, the committee ended up discussing signage for the new station, a topic they had yet to address and was not, technically, on the agenda.
The Express was invited on an exclusive tour of the station but was asked not to photograph the inside of the building.
The approximately 6,500 square foot facility is well underway.
The framing, which can be seen from the street, will be finished by Friday, and windows have arrived and will be installed once the rain has let up, next week.
The electrical, plumbing and HVAC installation will all begin soon, Oct. 22.
The building has openings for large windows, and a community room will be in the front of the building. Offices surround a central reception area, which will be enclosed.
The prisoner holding cells, made out of concrete cinderblock, have taken shape, as has the booking area in the back of the station.
In the twilight, approaching Halloween, the dark and imposing half-built cells made for an eerie sight.
The very back of the building contains a secure sally-port to transfer prisoners from vehicles to cells and back.
Dan Pallotta, the project manager, says the building is about 30 percent complete.
He claims that the new station has the lowest cost per square foot of any new station in the state in the past three years.
The main topic of discussion at the PSBC meeting was an old, “retro” police sign that the police are fond of on the current, old station.
Robert Karling, the wiring inspector, brought up the fact the police are often concerned when the sign is not lit, which led to a further discussion of signage at the station, and on the Town House campus in general.
The group, at first discussed moving the old sign to the new building, but after taking a walk outside to look at it, Chairman Colleen Thompson took a strong stand against a move.
Pallotta even suggested using CPA money to restore the sign or build a replica of it. “It’ll need CPR before CPA money,” quipped Karling.
“I like blue lights,” Thompson said, which Pallotta eventually agreed with, and putting a sign at the bottom of the hill that would match the library sign.
Member Mark Russo mentioned that a master plan for the entire Town House campus is being developed now and public input is being sought. He expressed that he wanted to see signs that were compatible with each other, as well.
The PSBC will next meet Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m.