1968-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

55 In order to serve the needs of all the Town with equal speed and convenience it is of utmost importance that the location of new Town Buildings be carefully considered. To this end the committee suggests that the area immediately surrounding the Mashpee Rotary Circle be the location of the three buildings specified. No one can quarrel with the fact that this area is nearly the geographical center of the Town and therefore the needs of Police assistance, response to fire calls and the urgent need for ambulance service may be handled most expeditiously. The heads of all departments interviewed agreed, without exception, .that this location is of prime importance. As a result of the field trip undertaken and other person- al inspections of like facilities this committee cannot be too strong in its recommendation that any architect or archi- tectural firm chosen to study the problem or to design a structure be chosen with extreme care. Unfortunately, the fee to be. charged may be the factor in choosing such a person or firm but the inadequacies of several buildings in- spected left much to be desired both from a space-use point of view and from the complete lack of good aesthetics. Good design does not cost a dime more than poor design. Let me illustrate: two police stations inspected could not, properly and safely, use the Police pistol range located in the base- ment of the stations because, in one case, the noise was prohibitive and inexperienced shooters could not practice because of exposed waste line which might be penetrated by a poorly placed bullet; in another case the exterior of the building looked as though it were designed by someone with a vengence against the town. There has been some sentiment expressed both by a member of the committee and an official of the Town that it would be desirable to have a combined Police and Fire Station only because they felt such 'a combination would lower the cost of construction. While it is probably true that some savings would accrue we wish to point out that one wall of the building is all that would be saved and the cost of this compared with the desirability, nay necessity, of separate buildings is felt to be imperative. Naturally, firemen have a great deal of spare time when waiting at their sta- tion and so they are prone to visit with the police, and there is certainly nothing wrong with this except that the very nature of police work is such that this mingling of police and firemen when a person is being booked at the police