SHELBURNE – Work on the long-awaited Shelburne police station at 623 Mohawk Trail has finally begun.
The Shelburne police station is currently located in two rooms of Town Hall.
The need to relocate, while apparent for 20-odd years, has gained traction in the past two to three years.
“We started talking about this back in the late 1990s,” Town Clerk Joe Judd said. Judd served as a Selectboard member for 21 years. Shelburne looked at many possible locations for a new police station over the years, including the Shelburne Fire Department and Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, Judd said.
Selectboard Chair Robert Manners said Wednesday the Town Hall location has become increasingly at odds with the needs of the police department, the public and state regulations. One challenge for officers is bringing arrests and conducting interviews in such a central location.
“The officers — not only do they have to worry about the safety of themselves, they have to worry about the safety of other people,” Manners said.
The new station was formerly operated by arts and crafts company A Notion to Quilt, which closed in 2017.
The new station is located in the “geographical center of the town,” Manners said, with easy access to both the village and more rural parts of the community.
The new station is currently being gutted, Manners said. Some inmates from Franklin County Jail are completing the demolition work as part of a community service initiative, which alleviates labor costs.
The building will then be redone, with a new heating system, bathrooms, offices and a town meeting room, he said.
The relocation is projected to cost $500,000, and that amount will be paid off in installments of about $40,000 over 10 years, Manners said.
The new station will be completed early next year “if the stars line up correctly,” he said.
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ext. 280