The police station subcommittee’s work will be heating up between January and March as the architect begins working toward a design that is acceptable to the committee. Some very, very premliminary sketches of what the building might look like emerged from the committee’s meeting on December 6th, 2011. The committee’s next meeting is now set for January 3rd, 2011 at 3:00 PM at Maine Street Station.
More on how this location was chosen can be seen above under the “new town buildings” tab. I’ve included a few of the architect’s pictures in this post, but the whole presentation can be seen by following the link contained in the December 7th Times Record article posted under the category “Town Facilities.”
There are a few things that need to be worked out before more concrete work can be accomplished on the design: some zoning problems, the questions of what the building will look like from the outside, and where on the lot the building will sit.
Zoning issues. This zone currently allows buildings with a maximum footprint of 7500 square feet, the proposed police station has a foot print of almost 10,500 square feet. The town council has asked the planning board to consider amending this zone to allow municipal uses on this lot to exceed the 7500 square foot limitation.
Preliminary sketch. View from the Ricker School.
A second zoning issue relates to impervious surface, that is, surfaces that are impenetrable to rain water and storm run-off such as roofs and paved surfaces. The zone at Stanwood and Pleasant Street is currently limited so that only 50% of the lot may be covered by impervious surfaces. The current design calls for 62% coverage. Either the planning board will have to amend the ordinance, or the design will need to be changed. ”Pervious” pavement does exist but it’s evidently much more expensive than traditional asphalt and requires maintenance.
Design issues. Some committee members appeared to find the initial rendering underwhelming; given its gateway location and civic prominence, perhaps the building should have an architectual prominence also? One committee member mentioned the desire among some in town to incorporate a clock-tower to mimic the tower at the old town hall. To my mind, trying too hard to mimic an old design often leads to a tacky result. Our current town hall, attempted to pay homage to its predecessor by putting in a faux bell-tower; it’s decidedly “lite,” so much so that it’s almost unnoticeable.
Old town hall. Nice tower.
Current town hall with "lite" bell-tower.
The architect himself seems most interested in harmonizing the building with the old Ricker School across the street—currently the Coldwell Banker real estate office—without simply copying it.
Architect's preferred site location.
Building Location. There was less discussion on this point, but the architect favors leaving some open space between the road and the building. Again, although this doesn’t quite match the setback across the street at the Ricker School, it attempts to, and would allow for landscaping.