Hallowell residents are encouraged to participate in an online forum tonight to learn more about the possibility of transforming the old fire house on Second Street into a police station.
During a 6 p.m. Zoom meeting, Bangor architectural firm Artifex will explain what it would take to repair and remodel the station, which has been mostly vacant since firefighters moved to a new building on Winthrop Street last year.
With a $3.2 million price tag, City Manager Gary Lamb said it’s likely Hallowell voters will be asked at some point in the future whether to invest the money in the historic fire house.
“It’s clear some members of the community want the building to be renovated,” he said. “And most want the police department to remain downtown.”
As it is now, Hallowell Police operate out of the basement of city hall, a cramped space with makeshift storage, holes in the concrete floor, a constantly running dehumidifier and a large sandbag to keep water from coming out into the hallway.
And while the current city hall dates to 1898, the former fire station was built in 1828 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Part of what makes it special is the 64-foot-tall fire hose drying tower that was restored a few years ago. Hallowell resident Sandy Stubbs, who led the effort to raise money to save the tower, said she hopes the police can move into the building.
“I would love the police station to go in there,” she said.
Hallowell has a small police department, with two full-time officers, one full-time chief and about six part-time staff, Lamb said. He said it seems reasonable to move the department to the main floor of the former fire station, which is now a big, mostly empty room with filing cabinets along one wall of the fire truck bay.
The only current occupant of the building is a food pantry, which operates out of the basement. Lamb said it’s conceivable that the pantry could stay there, with the police on the middle floor and storage or community space upstairs.
Stubbs and others also preserved more than 500 fire service artifacts that are now in a small second floor museum.
The architect’s report that will be presented on Monday recaps the history of the building, including reference to the replacement of horse-drawn fire fighting equipment with trucks around 1924. At that time, a concrete deck was poured over the wooden floor to ensure it could sustain the weight of the trucks, Lamb said.
The report also notes a fire in the 1930s damaged part of the building and the hose tower. Lamb pointed out charred beams that are still visible in the building.
Despite that and other damage, the architects and engineers concluded that it is possible to breathe new life into the old building.
“Our conclusion is that the historic fire station could be used as a city police station, including a historic museum and a public meeting space,” according to a letter signed by Ellen Angel, senior architect. “We believe this is an exceptional opportunity for the city of Hallowell to place back into use a major municipal structure for another two hundred years.”
Lamb said Monday’s presentation is just the first step in deciding what to do with the building.
He and Stubbs both said it’s unfortunate that because of the pandemic, the city can’t hold an in-person meeting to hear from the architects. Lamb encouraged residents to visit the city website, click on the Zoom link on the calendar and ask questions.
“This is a big meeting,” Stubbs said. “You really have to hear what everybody says.”