For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-9003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Maynard Fire Department Seeks Funds for New Fire Station Design

MAYNARD – Fire Chief Anthony Stowers announces that the Town of Maynard will ask voters to appropriate funds to design a new fire station at the annual town meeting later this month.

The Maynard Annual Town Meeting will be held on Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Fowler School, 3 Tiger Drive.

This is the second step of a three-phase process to help Maynard replace its aging fire station. It will consist of developing schematic and engineered drawings for a shovel-ready project, which means that planning and engineering has advanced enough so that with sufficient funding, construction could begin in a very short amount of time. This will allow the fire department to determine accurate pricing in order to examine funding mechanisms and timing for the project start.

The cost of the design and associated items will be about $832,000. Funding for this phase of the project would be taken from capital stabilization funds that have been previously set aside to move forward with a new fire station and will not impact taxes. The fire department is also continuing to explore other funding options such as grants.

“This new fire station will suit the needs of Maynard residents for many, many years to come,” Chief Stowers said. “We recognize the tremendous financial commitment a fire station requires of the taxpayers and we are committed to keeping those costs as low as possible.”

The concept drawings, which have already been developed specifically for the building site on Sudbury Street that Maynard voters approved back in March, call for a building of approximately 19,500 square feet — about double the usable space of the existing fire station.

“Funding this phase of the plan is critical for the town to move forward with grant applications and other funding sources that may require a shovel-ready project,” said Ron Calabria, Chairman of the Fire Station Building Committee.

The need for a new fire station has been well documented for more than a decade, including two reports from engineering firms outlining multiple deficiencies.

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