Town officials move into new public safety building
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

RANGELEY – First responders here were more than glad to unpack boxes and set up shop in their brand new digs last week.

They were downright thrilled.

As of Feb. 2, Rangeley Fire Chief Rudy Davis, Police Chief PhilWeymouth and ambulance supervisor Mike Senecal had moved into their new offices, located in the town’s newly built $850,000 public safety building.

Then late this week, fire trucks and ambulances will roll into their new slots in the safety building’s six-bay garage for the first time.

The garage was added to the existing town office, located on School Street.

The freshly painted walls of the public safety building smell of sweet relief for Davis, Weymouth and Senecal.

Now the fire department can finally move out of its old station, built in 1902; police can move out of the sewer department building they’ve been calling home for years; and the ambulance department can move out of the building it has been renting high atop Dallas Hill, a mile from town.

“I am pretty happy,” said Weymouth, a slight shimmer of sweat on his forehead as he heaved cardboard boxes from the floor, rested them on top of his desk and started emptying their contents and putting things away.

“It’s nice. It’s clean. And I’ve got a bathroom right here,” he joked, pointing a few feet down the hall. The only bathroom at his old office was the bushes outside. “It’s perfect.”

In addition to the 65-foot-by-100-foot, six-bay garage for emergency vehicles and offices for department heads, the building contains a meeting room that seats 75, restrooms, two bunk rooms and a day room that includes a kitchenette for ambulance crews, a meeting room for fire personnel, an indoor/outdoor kennel for animal control and lots of storage space.

The ball field/hockey rink behind the town office remains and the parking lot has been expanded to hold about 40 cars.

For the most part, construction is done. Now, the only things left to do are some tiling, a little touch-up paint here and there and some landscaping and paving in the spring.

“Taxpayers got a real good deal for their money,” said Mark Beauregard, chairman of the board of selectmen. “They got a lot of building for their buck.”

The project, which was 20 years overdue he said, should come in right on budget. “We’re within 1 percent.”

Committees in the past have laid the groundwork for the building to become a reality, he said. The reason it finally came to fruition was because the Board of Selectmen made it the top priority.

“It’s more acceptable in light of September 11 to invest in public safety,” Beauregard said.

The building accomplished a lot things at once, he added.

In the spring when “things green up a bit,” Beauregard says there will be a dedication of the building, which will be named for the late Harlan Doak, who founded the town’s ambulance service and served for 50 years as a volunteer firefighter.

Until then, the building’s new inhabitants, like Weymouth, are content to just enjoy their new surroundings.

Weymouth says his office now is much more welcoming to the public. “People didn’t know where I was before, and those who did know didn’t want to come down there. Now, they are walking into a clean, professional building.”

As for the buildings left behind, selectmen will look at the best options for the former fire station; one idea is to turn it into public restrooms, Beauregard said. The same goes for the former police station.

The rental agreement for the building formerly used by the ambulance department ended Feb. 1.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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