Dalton Fire District Plans Future Fire Station / iBerkshires.com

DALTON, Mass. — The Fire District is considering reconsidering the purchase of the former Dalton Garage, located at 385 Main St.

The idea was brought up again at the fire district's community meeting last week, and Thomas Irwin, a member of the city's finance committee, presented it to the board of water commissioners at its meeting Tuesday.

The council voted to begin exploring its options for a new fire station and write a letter of interest to the owner of the Dalton garage.

Irwin has been coordinating with Fire Chief Christian Tobin for about eight weeks, but he already has prior knowledge of the space, having worked with the owner, Peter Horth, since October 2022 in an effort to prevent the property from becoming the site of a chain store like Dollar General.

According to the city's geographic information system, the former Dalton Garage is comprised of three parcels totaling 1.1427 acres with an estimated value of approximately $704,000 and is owned by Essco Inc.

Several residents expressed the need for a new fire station at community meetings due to the cramped conditions of the fire station and water department.

Irwin, who is also an engineer, said the council could expand the current fire station, or purchase and modify the Dalton garage or, thirdly, renovate and build an extension to the Dalton garage.

When developing his cost estimates, Irwin considered several factors in collaboration with the fire chief, including the size of equipment and vehicles, the number of personnel, the needs of the fire station and forecasts.

He also met with UniBank to determine what the district's current municipal interest rate would be.

The rate was determined to be 4.5 percent, taking into account a number of fees and “extraneous things” as recommended by the UniBank contact, Irwin told the board.

The purchase of the Dalton garage is estimated at approximately $950,000; the modification of the building is estimated at $12,830,000, of which $11,880,000 is for the interior. This would meet most of the department's needs, except for vehicle storage.

The third option would be to add five parking stalls at an estimated additional cost of $5,470,000, for a total project cost of approximately $18,000,000. The current station has only four stalls.

The least expensive option would be to expand the existing fire station, at a cost of about $4.3 million, including building a second-floor living space above the northernmost bay, and renovating the existing administrative space.

However, this option still does not meet all of the station's needs because it does not take into account training space, storage and making the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Community members have suggested that the water department could move into the fire station if the fire department moves to the Dalton garage.

Irwin also added that the district would only need to renovate 9,000 square feet of the Dalton garage, which could reduce costs by about $3 million.

The costs per square foot were confirmed by Boston engineering firm Context Architecture, which specializes in building security buildings, Irwin said.

They are also willing to come to Dalton, visit the Dalton Garage, look at these options and provide their opinions for free, he said.

The Board of Directors agreed to work with Context Architecture and Unibank to obtain further information on the financial options and feasibility of the proposed project.

They will schedule a tour of the Dalton Garage building with the engineering firm to assess its condition and suitability.

The district would also look for ways to mitigate costs to taxpayers through a number of methods.

One such approach is to focus on becoming a regional fire department, which would make the department more attractive to state investment and allow cities to share costs and resources.

The district would inquire with state and federal officials about possible grants or other financial support.

Rather than relying solely on taxpayer dollars, the district will explore using revenue from ambulance services and inter-facility transportation.

They are also working to ensure that the design and construction of the new station is cost-effective while meeting its needs.

One option proposed was to carefully plan the project in phases over 3 to 5 years in order to spread the costs.

Irwin also showed the district how delaying this project would increase the cost by about $100 per square foot per year, creating unwanted financial risk.

In other news:

The council approved installing cameras in the main lobby and along the building's exterior parameters for $5,218.

Keywords: fire station,