New Firehouse Debate Draws a Crowd at Council Meeting

By Adam Swift

On the night the Town Council appointed a Firehouse Building Committee for a new fire station at the site of the Wadsworth Building on Winthrop Street, residents crowded into the Harvey Hearing Room at Town Hall, spilling far out the door.

Many raised concerns about the potential displacement of the storied local Meat Market if the firehouse plan is approved at the ballot box on Nov. 7. Others raised concerns about the general location of the project, the potential price tag, and the decision not to move forward with a combined police and fire public safety building.

If approved, the new firehouse would also house the town’s health and emergency medical services departments.

Before opening up the public speaking portion of Tuesday night’s meeting, Council President James Letterie addressed some of the concerns that have been swirling around town the past several weeks concerning the project.

“I’d like to bring the audience up to speed at how we arrived at the proposal we submitted last Tuesday and hopefully we will be able to clear up some of the misinformation or confusion that is out,” said Letterie.

In 2018, Letterie said the town manager hired the architectural firm Kaestle Boos for a proposed fire station/public safety building. In 2019, there was a public forum to discuss 10 targeted sites, followed by another forum in 2021 with updated pricing and two specific targeted sites – the seventh hole at the golf course and the Little League A field.

Late in 2022 and into early 2023, Letterie said the town focused on two different sites – the current headquarters station on Pauline Street and the site that was proposed last week on Winthrop Street. Both the Pauline Street station and the fire station on Shirley Avenue date back to the turn of the 20th century.

Letterie noted that over the past several years, there has also been some discussion about building a new fire station or public safety building at the old middle school site.

“The middle school site, the town has felt, has always been considered as a plan for economic stimulus in terms of revenue for the town,” said Letterie.

Both the Pauline Street and Winthrop Street sites involved eminent domain takings, with two friendly takings on Winthrop Street, and the potential for seven to nine hostile takings at the Pauline Street site, Letterie said.

Building on the Pauline Street site would also potentially lead to the displacement of the current fire station while construction was ongoing, Letterie said.

“We, as a town council, would also never want to lose a single business in this town,” said Letterie. “Winthrop prides itself on its retention rate among businesses, the town manager has already reached out and talked to the Chamber (of Commerce) along with the landlord to begin the process of identifying potential sites for those wishing to relocate. The town manager and the Wadsworth landlord will be meeting next week with the owners of the Meat Market and have future meetings with any other interested tenants.”

Letterie said the council and the town have an obligation and a strong desire to assist with the moving of any business into any new location.

Over the next three months, Letterie said the new Firehouse Building Committee will have public meetings and forums on the plan for the new building.

“They will try to educate and answer any questions asked, including site location, including displacement, including cost to the taxpayers,” said Letterie. “On Nov. 7, there will ultimately be a ballot question that would include this proposed plan. It would be a debt exclusion question on the ballot.”

Meat Market co-owner Sandro Cimino spoke about the potential displacement of the long-time business, as well as the town’s need for a new fire station.

“Recently, we found out that the town intends to take the property by eminent domain,” said Cimino. “We found this out by customers calling us and asking questions. We had no idea prior to that, and we immediately began thinking about how do we survive as one of the oldest business establishments in town.”

Cimino said there were immediate concerns about how and where the business would move to, and who would pay for the relocation and potential increased rent.

“We want you to know and the public to know that we don’t intend on closing our business,” said Cimino. “This is our primary source of income.”

Cimino noted that the business has always stood behind town departments, organizations, and nonprofits, and was encouraged by recent outreach from the council and the town manager that they would be looking to assist the business with any transition.

“I hope this council understands the value we bring to the community and we want to stay,” said Cimino. “We know the firefighters support our business and are loyal customers and we support them as well. This is not a statement against the building or the firehouse, which we understand is needed and support that as well.”

Police Chief Terence Delehanty spoke as a customer and strong supporter of the Meat Market.

“Over the years, they have helped us, police and fire, parks and rec, with fundraisers… and over the last 30-plus years I have been going in there, they have become family,” said Delehanty.

Delehanty urged the council and the town manager to put together a plan for the business’s relocation and increased costs and ensure that they have comparable space in town.

“I support the firefighters, I understand their needs… they are our friends as well and they are loyal customers as well,” said Delehanty. “That is my expectation of the council, I wanted to make sure you understood my expectations as a voter, but we already have a footprint where we have done this, we’ve done this with the rebuilding of Miller Field. We did an eminent domain taking of personal property, and we had to reconstruct that property.”

A number of the residents who spoke noted that the Meat Market has been in the community for decades and serves as an important social center for a small town. Many noted that if the business does relocate, the town needs to offer hefty assistance for finding a new location, relocation costs, and the likelihood of increased rent at a new location.

It was also pointed out by several residents that Winthrop Meat Market is not the only business at the Wadsworth Building, and that the town already has a premium on potential locations for retail business that would only get worse if the Wadsworth Building is taken for the firehouse project.