March 28, 2024

New Fire Station May Cost $9 Million

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A new fire station in the south end of Seekonk may cost over $9 million.

Members of the South End Fire Station Building Committee made a presentation to the Board of Selectmen on January 18.

Voters at the May 2020 town meeting allocated $425,000 for the design of the facility at the former school administration building on School Street.

The 8300 square foot building would consist of three components, including dispatch, living quarters, and fire suppression.

The construction cost would be $7.2 million. An additional $2 million would be needed for “soft costs.” The total would be $9.6 million.

If the project is approved at the May town meeting, construction would begin in June and be completed in September 2024.

In addition, $1 million would need to be appropriated for apparatus for the new station.

“Right now we don’t know what the total costs are,” said Selectmen Chairman Justin Sullivan.

“I think we need to recognize the longer that we delay this, the more costly it’s going to be,” said Town Administrator Shawn Cadime, noting back in 2019, the estimated cost of the project was $3.5 to $4 million.

Sullivan said voters at the town meeting would need to have all the information about the impact of the project on the tax rate.

“We do need to make sure that we have the answers of staffing and where this is going to be,” Sullivan added. “There’s going to be a whole lot of questions to answer.”

“That’s the conversation that needs to take place,” Cadime said. “Is there truly a need for a South End Fire Station in the near future?”

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