WATERVILLE — Architects working for the city said Tuesday they believe building a new police station at Head of Falls would be better than trying to renovate the Morning Sentinel.
But the owners of a real estate company representing MaineToday Media maintain the Sentinel building would be appropriate for a police station and could be a better deal for the city.
Anthony Armstrong and Robert Baldacci of Baldacci Real Estate Group, of Portland, asked councilors to allow them two weeks to come up with a plan to make structural changes to the Sentinel building to make it more suitable for a police station.
“I think you have an opportunity here to use an extremely attractive building that already fits into the architectural structure of the immediate area,” Armstrong said.
Councilors on Tuesday will consider voting to build a $2.75 million police station at Head of Falls. They could decide to table the issue for further study or to allow Baldacci’s group to come up with a plan for the Sentinel building.
Officials from Port City Architecture, of Portland, recommend the city build a new police station at Head of Falls as opposed to retrofitting the Sentinel.
John Charette and Andy Hyland of Port City cited several reasons the Sentinel is not as appropriate as Head of Falls, including that the Sentinel would need structural changes in order to meet international code for public safety buildings; there is lack of space at the back of the building to construct a sally port and allow for traffic flow there; there is a lack of adequate parking space in general.
They said the building is a great office space, but needs significant renovation to make it work for a police station, which has special safety requirements for both police and the public.
“We have nothing against the Sentinel building; I’m just telling you, we were hired by the city, you’re our client and we’re telling you what our professional opinion is,” Hyland said.
Both City Manager Michael Roy and the Police Station Study Committee appointed by the council recommend building at Head of Falls.
Joseph Casalinova, president of Building Solutions, with offices in Auburn and Oxford, attended the meeting with Baldacci and Armstrong. Armstrong said Casalinova and his team went through the Sentinel building last week and if the council approves, will look at how structural changes may be made so that it meets codes.
They said they wanted to present the city with a plan for how they could make those changes before a sale to the city and if the city is serious about buying the building, they would then do more work and come up with hard numbers on the cost to renovate.
“I think there are issues there, but I think they can be worked out,” Armstrong said.
Police Station Study Committee member George Coleman said renovating an existing building will not give the city a first-class facility for the Police Department, and cost can be more carefully controlled when building anew.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
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