Loading ...
Pages
Stay In Touch
More
Copyright 2010 The Somerville News and Prospect Hill Publishing, Inc. The Somerville News is the only locally owned and operated community newspaper in Somerville.
As city officials began to move back into the police headquarters last week, a second flood struck the building. - Andrew Firestone
Station reopened after $1 million flood damage
By Andrew Firestone
While police headquarters might be back to business as usual, Mayor Joseph Curtatone was blunt about the prospects of the now twice-flooded building.
“I’ll tell you right now, I wish I could knock it down today. And if I could, I would,” he said at a Monday press conference to re-open the building after July 10 floods caused almost $1 million in damages.
The announcement followed another flood last week that brought six inches into the still recovering building. The second flood caused no additional damage. Detectives and administrative personnel had been cleared to resume work on August 9, following harmful air quality and faulty electrical equipment.
Curtatone expressed doubt regarding the capabilities of the building to withstand another 100-year storm typical of the northeast calling the high volume of rain “insurmountable for us, and any community in this region.”
“As a region, state, city and town we need to ask ourselves, do we have an infrastructure with the capacity necessary to take on those storms? I’d submit we do not,” he said.
The flood damaged 24 vehicles in the department’s fleet. The lost fleet, comprised of eight Ford Crown Victoria Interceptors, eight Harley Davidson Motorcycles and eight Ford Taurus, were not covered under the city’s insurance policy and will be replaced at the taxpayers expense in the next month.
~Photo by William Tauro
Despite the loss of the station, the Somerville Police Department were able to operate without interruption due to help from the Everett Police Department, who took their 911 calls, and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security who loaned them a mobile command center.
“We have not received many complaints at all,” said Acting Chief Michael Cabral. “As a matter of fact, the public wasn’t even aware that our police station was dysfunctional at the time.”
One Somerville resident, Wally Chisholm said he was pleased with the resilience of the department. “I think they’re terrific,” said Chishom. “They just continue to do their job. A flood’s a flood, but they’re still out there.”
While Curtatone said he would do whatever he could to maintain the building, he said little besides sandbags and better preparation would help. An officer investigating the causes of the flood, Lt. Stephen Carrabino, said he was looking into waterproofing the garage door to the rear lot, but the cause was still a mystery. “We’d like to address the problem,” said Carrabino. “We’d like to know why water isn’t clearing the back lot like it used to.”
Curtatone said he would begin the process of designing and raising funds for the new building in the next few months.
If this article was of interest please consider sharing it.
The Mayor, finally has the right idea. Get rid of the Public Safety Bldg. Work on Federal Funding, to replace it. Look at alternative Bldgs which would be better than building a new structure. Use something like the empty Powderhouse school on Broadway. Put the Engine 3 back into the old Union Sq firehouse.
“As a matter of fact, the public wasn’t even aware that our police station was dysfunctional at the time.” Mike….”dysfunctional”????
Then again….
Tell Ocean State Job Lot we’ll be more than happy to shop at their Medford store, then move the police HQ up to the old Star Market…
Joe, your not a dope, you know it’s not going to get any cheaper to build a new building so man up and build it. You may not want to admit it but people are getting sick in that hell hole.
I also want to commend the Police, Fire, and Civilian Personnal who worked under these harsh conditions for so long. There will be another storm, and what happens at 2am when you don’t have the Personnal available to move these vehicles?. Sixteen more vehicle that have to be replaced! The Taxpayers can’t afford it, and i’ll bet they would rather see their money go to a new facility than to replace Cruisers and god knows what else get destroyed.
Give us a break Joe, a twice flooded building. Twice a year since it opened may be more accurate. You have known about this problem and ignored it since you were an alderman. The building began flooding not long after it opened and you and your predessors did nothing about it. Mold, rats (not you Joe) and duct work that was unable to be cleaned because of the horrendous design. How many public safety employees have cronic illnesses or died because of your neglect. Any privately owned business in this condition would have been shut down years ago. Actions speak louder than words Joe and your actions have shown you don’t care as long as they but your name on the new building.
Now my question is, What is the City going to do with this hurricane headed our way? How is the city going to prepare for the rain bands which should dump a load of rain? I support the mayor and such but I have concerns regarding this issue and i have yet to hear anything.
Building occupants at the Somerville Police Station, complain of symptoms associated with acute discomfort, e.g., headache; eye, nose, or throat irritation; dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odors.
The cause of the symptoms is not known. ACCORDING TO THE CITY, ITS SAFE!
Most of the officers feel relief after they exit the building. ACCORDING TO THE CITY “WERE A BUNCH OF CRY BABIES”
Building occupants complain of symptoms such as cough; chest tightness; fever, chills; and muscle aches–ACCORDING TO THE CITY,THERE ALL SMOKERS OR USED TO SMOKE!
The symptoms can be clinically defined and have clearly identifiable causes. ACCORDING TO THE CITY, “THE COPS ARE LOSING THIER MINDS!”
Complainants may require prolonged recovery times after leaving the building. “ACCORDING TO THE CITY, THERE DOING TOO MANY CONSTRUCTION DETAILS”
ACCORDING TO THE CITY, SICK TIME IS HIGH
ACCORDING TO THE CITY, WE ALL NEED A GOOD ENEMA ( I AGREE, SOME OF THE OFFICERS LOOK LIKE THEY REALLY DO
ACCORDING TO THE CITY, THE BUILDING IS NOT IDEAL BUT WE DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO BUILD A NEW STATION. (THEN TELL ME WHY EVERYTIME WE TURN THE CORNER CONTRUCTION IS BEING DONE)
Darn “global warming”, this is the third 100 year storm in a month !!
Hey, we got a nice parcel for you at 299 Broadway. At it comes with plenty of vagrants and drunks, so you won’t have to go far to do patrols.
Seriously though, we’d love to have the boys in blue – much more than empty retail space or more condos. I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with such a building, you all do a great job in spite of the conditions.