Committee ponders combining senior center, public safety complex at Decas School

May 16, 2022

The current Decas School site could host a public safety complex and a senior center. 

The Public Safety Complex Study Committee was formed back in 2020 to study the possibility of building a new police station in a complex shared with other departments, including Wareham Fire and Emergency Medical Services. The committee was charged with determining the scope and feasibility of the project, evaluating various sites and creating a preliminary design.

At the committee’s May 16 meeting, they saw rough sketches illustrating how a senior center and public safety complex could coexist on the Decas School property.

The current police station was first deemed too small for the community back in 1988. A 1995 study suggested that a new station, five times the size of the current building, was needed.

The Decas School, made obsolete by the new elementary school on Minot Avenue, has been empty since January. Also in 2020, the Redevelopment Authority hired the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District to determine the best use for the school property. The study determined that demolishing the school to use the land for a lab and business use would be the best financial move for the town. 

Now, following a proposal to convert the school into a Community Center that has been supported by Town Meeting votes, the town is reconsidering the property’s future — so the committee is looking at it as part of their work to evaluate all possible locations. 

One mark against using the site for public safety is that its location means that a second ambulance would need to be housed elsewhere in town to keep response times fast. 

Tecton Architects Jeffery McElravy and Rebecca Hopkins, who have been hired to complete a feasibility study, presented several rough concepts for the site — some prioritizing maintaining the school building, and some focused on maintaining the fields and adding a new senior center building. Still to be explored is the possibility of converting the school itself into a public safety complex. 

But with all those public uses on the site in addition to a re-used Decas School, there are concerns about how much parking would be necessary — or where those spots would go.

Another challenge is making sure each public safety agency has two pathways out of the site to ensure they are able to respond to emergencies even if one exit is blocked.

Meanwhile, other sites are still in contention. The architects said that the police station’s current location is too small, and they’re currently evaluating the Minot Avenue site between the Brandy Hill and Depot Crossing apartment complexes. The Minot Avenue site, though, wouldn’t work for Wareham Fire due to its location.

Committee members expressed concern about convincing Town Meeting voters to support the project — whatever that ends up being.

“Somebody’s gonna be mad no matter what we do,” noted one committee member.

There’s plenty of work ahead for the architects, who will be fleshing out various plans with more detail. 

The committee will also be asked to reckon with the cost of various plans — both to build and equip the facilities, but also lifetime costs like maintenance and utilities.

Wareham Fire Chief John Kelley said the committee needs to determine its priorities and its “deal-breakers.”

The group will meet again on June 6, following a short walking tour of the Minot site.