MELROSE — On Tuesday, about 42 percent of the city’s 21,238 registered voters overwhelmingly backed a major project designed to bring the public safety buildings into the 21st century and, hopefully, beyond.
To build a new police station at the Ripley School, renovate the decrepit fire headquarters on Main Street and build new fire houses for Engine 2 and for Engine 3 is expected to cost about $130 million. Backers of the need to improve the public safety facilities said the longer the work is put off, the higher the bill will be for the city’s taxpayers.
According to materials published online, the owner of a house valued at $733,465 would pay between about $200 and $874 a year more in property taxes until 2059 to pay for the work.
The 2023 City Election ballot question passed 5,301 to 3,293.
The city’s public safety buildings are comprised of the central Melrose Fire Department headquarters located at 576 Main St., constructed in 1895; the West Side Fire Station (Engine 2) located at 206 Tremont St., constructed in 1929; the East Side Fire Station (Engine 3) at 280 East Foster St. station, constructed in 1964; and the Melrose Police Department headquarters at 56 West Foster St. in a former Bell Telephone Building that dates to 1903.
Mayor Paul Brodeur re-established the Melrose Public Safety Building Committee in 2021 to develop recommendations for these buildings that balance both the needs of the City and the effective use of tax dollars. The PSBC initiated its effort by reviewing the previous feasibility study completed in 2017. In 2022, the Melrose City Council approved $68,500 to fund the cost of hiring an architectural firm to complete pre-design services to inform this effort. In addition to meeting more than 40 times as a full committee, the PSBC held over 12 preliminary design meetings with Dore + Whittier architects and hosted two open houses and two public learning sessions that can be viewed online at www.melrosepsb.org.
The final PSBC report recommends the renovation and/or reconstruction of four buildings phased over seven years and sequenced to limit disruption to police and fire services and costly investments in temporary facilities in the interim. The projected costs of this proposal based on preliminary design would be approximately $130 million dollars: $35.9M for a new Police station; $26.7M to renovate central Fire headquarters; $32.3M for a new West Side Fire Station (Engine 2); and $34.8M for new East Side Fire Station (Engine 3).
Municipal capital projects of this magnitude are financed by a debt exclusion, which must be approved by the voters of Melrose. A debt exclusion is a temporary increase in property taxes, outside the limits of proposition 2½, to raise the funds necessary to pay the costs for specific capital projects identified in the question. The funds raised through a debt exclusion cannot be used for any other purpose.
Now that the project has been approved, it moves forward into the full design phase which would last approximately 12 months. Through this full design phase, total project cost estimates included in the final report would be further refined, including opportunities to fine tune project details and optimize potential cost saving adjustments.
The full PSBC report is available to view or download on the PSBC page. Print copies can also be viewed at the Mayor’s Office in Melrose City Hall, located at 562 Main St. and at the Melrose Public Library, currently located 263 West Foster St.