Turley Publications photo by Angela Zajac

NORTH BROOKFIELD CELEBRATES NEW POLICE HEADQUARTERS

By Angela L. Zajac

Turley Publications Correspondent

NORTH BROOKFIELD - After 10 years of struggling to find an adequate piece of land, the North Brookfield Police Department Building Committee composed of Chairman Eric Hevy, Chief of Police Aram Thomasian Jr., Officer Paul Dacey, Selectman Robert Filipkowski, Leah Bradley, Anne Jannette and Steve Cummings have finally achieved their goal - a brand new state of the art station completely fit to better serve the town.

When the initial PD located underneath the Town Hall burnt down around eight years ago and was declared condemned, the police department moved to a small "temporary" outdated, rat inhabited location off of Main Street.

On June 21, after what PD Building Committee Chair Eric Hevy described as "a process with a lot of work and obstacles," the police department officially moved to School Street and switched on their radio and Criminal Justice Information System. Chief Thomasian said, "I would like to sincerely thank all members of the department for their help during this transition."

The new station took 16 months to erect, and passed inspection on July 1. It came in underneath the estimated $3.1 million town approval and was designed by Tecton Architects of Hartford, Conn., and built by P & P General Contractors of Dudley. 

Unlike the old location, the new building has two male holding cells and one female holding cell. It also has a large training/meeting room with a projector and screen. "I'd like to eventually host movies in there on the weekends," Chief Thomasian said.

The PD cut the ribbon and celebrated its grand opening this past Saturday, July 31, with speeches from decorated Massachusetts leaders including Congressman Richard E. Neal (D) and North Brookfield Selectman/PD Building Committee member, Robert Filipkowski. 
The main obstacle the team faced with the current spot is that it was contaminated with asbestos. This spot was Brownfield land.

The police force also provided guided tours and answered questions all morning for all the interested guests. "We have been working diligently and training since moving in," Chief Thomasian said.