Design for public safety building presented to city council
Saturday, June 30, 2007 - Bangor Daily News*

The plans still are evolving, but the first round of concept designs for the new public safety building on Parkway South show a brick-colored New England-style building that will house both the fire and police departments.

The two departments have shared the now deteriorating South Main Street facility, built in 1958, for the last half-century.

"The project is long overdue," City Engineer Frank Higgins told the City Council on Tuesday while presenting the preliminary plans.

A design team made up of Fire Chief Rick Bronson, Police Chief Perry Antone, representatives from local construction firm Nickerson & O’Day and WBRC Architects-Engineers of Bangor, and Higgins worked to create a plan that would meet all the needs of the two departments, while staying within the $6.5 million budget.

Nickerson & O’Day and WBRC are working together as the design-build team on the approximately 30,000-square-foot facility.

The interior for the three-story building has separate space for each department, with some shared areas. One of the stories is a basement level that is open on the west side but is not visible from the front.

"Basically, there are two facilities that have been melded together into one," Higgins said.

Brewer city leaders in January purchased nearly 3 acres on Parkway South, adjacent to Interstate 395, at a cost of $275,000. The location alone will help the city’s insurance rating, Bronson said.

"It will be substantially improved by doing this," he said.

The facility is two buildings that are connected — one that looks like an old colonial home on the right side of the site and a warehouse-style fire station on the left. Public access to the facility is gained through the front of the building on the right, and there is ample space for parking.

"For security reasons, nobody can get past this area" without permission or an escort, Higgins said.

A secured area for employees to park is located in the back.

The plans include room for five police cruisers to park inside the back of the building at the basement level, which also is where the evidence storage, fitness area and locker rooms are expected to be located.

"If you drive around back, you’ll see it’s actually a three-story building," Higgins said.

The second level of the fire station side of the building will be living space for firefighters, and the second level of the building on the right will be used for office space for the police, a monitored interview room and training room, plus room for growth.

"As the police and fire departments grow to address the needs of the city, we’ll be able to do that," Antone said. "I think it’s going to fit in and be a showpiece for the city of Brewer. It’s a huge step up for us."

The third floor of that building will house administration offices for the two department chiefs, deputy chiefs, patrol lieutenant and others, and will have a 20-person meeting room.

"We have not designed this building for today’s needs — we’ve looked down the road," Higgins said. "We see this building as a facility that will meet the city’s needs for decades to come."

Nickerson & O’Day and WBRC have done approximately 50 projects together, said Randy Poulton, vice president of Nickerson & O’Day.

"We do some of our best work together," he said.

A design-build project allows flexibility because the builder works hand-in-hand with the designer to overcome and brainstorm on any project obstacles, he said.

The designs will be on the July planning board agenda and plans are to break ground soon after board approval, Poulton said.

"The [design] group has worked very, very hard on this and we’re pleased with the support of the City Council," City Manager Steve Bost said. "We think Brewer citizens will be very proud of the final building."

*An artist’s drawing of the new public safety building on Parkway South in Brewer. (Photo courtesy of Nickerson & O’Day/WBRC Architects-Engineers)