New $45 million public safety building plan will go to Auburn voters

A view of Auburn Central Fire Station on Minot Avenue in Auburn, where a proposed joint public safety building would be erected. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo

AUBURN — A $45 million bond to build a new public safety building for the city’s police and fire departments will go to voters Nov. 7.

The City Council recently voted 6-1 to approve sending the project to voters. The vote was in line with the ad hoc public safety building committee’s recommendation.

The proposed building would replace the Central Fire Station at 550 Minot Ave. and house the police and fire departments, both of which city officials say are in desperate need of new homes.

The Police Department has been operating at Auburn Hall at 60 Court St. since 2011, a then-temporary solution because its former station at 1 Minot Ave. needed costly repairs. The location was only meant to be a five-year solution until a headquarters could be built.

Challenges for police, who share space in the Auburn Hall with other city operations, include space constraints, safety concerns involving prisoner interaction with the public, access to officer safety equipment, gender accommodations, adequate locker rooms and a lack of restrooms, training space and storage space for evidence, equipment, uniforms and supplies.

The Fire Department lacks space for its primary ladder truck, which officials say should be centrally located. The station, built in 1972, no longer meets the needs of modern services, lacking decontamination and training spaces, ADA compliance and storage space, according to a statement by city officials.

The decision by the council came after several years of assessments, analysis and planning on the part of the ad hoc committee, which is comprised of two city councilors, six members of the public and city staff.

Estimates in 2021 put the project at around $27 million. Last year, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins secured $2.5 million toward the project from the 2022 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.

From 2008 to 2018, city debt management was adjusted to reduce overall bonds by nearly 27% to position the city to take on the cost of a new public safety building, officials said in the statement.