Wilbraham breaks ground on new police station

April 28, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

Pictured (left to right) are Assistant Town Administrator for Budget and Finance Thomas Sullivan, Fire Chief Francis Nothe, Selectman Robert Russell, Selectman Susan Bunnell, Police Station Building Committee Chair Roger Fontaine, Police Station Building Committee member Patti Diotalevi, and Police Chief Roger Tucker.
Reminder Publications photo by Chris Goudreau

WILBRAHAM – Wilbraham elected officials, members of the Police Department, and residents celebrated the official groundbreaking of the $8 million new police station at 2780 Boston Road on April 25.

Police Chief Roger Tucker told Reminder Publications after the ceremony the police station would be completed by March 31, 2017 and construction began about three weeks ago.

“I’m very excited to see this begin,” he explained. “I’ve been a Wilbraham police officer for 29 1/2 years and at the end of my career I get to experience what it’s like to be in a new facility. It’s going to be 21st century. It’s going to have all the features in it that a modern police station should have and we’re looking forward to it.”

He added the new police station would be 15,800 square feet and would feature a multi-purpose community room, more space for officers, evidence storage, and training. The existing police station at 16 Main St. consists of 5,300 square feet.

Selectman Robert Russell said about 25 years ago the town looked into the possibility of creating a joint public safety complex and he considers the creation of the new police station next door to the fire station a realization of that idea.

“It’s going to have a good presence here on Boston Road, where it’s very visible and it’s going to serve a lot of purposes for the town,” he added.

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