By Steve Smith
Hartford Courant
ENFIELD, Conn. — On Election Day, Enfield voters approved a referendum appropriating $15.1 million for the construction of an addition to the town’s public safety complex.
“I am thrilled by the outcome and, more significantly, the ongoing support of the Enfield community as a whole,” said Enfield Police Chief Alaric Fox.
The project will add space for the town’s police department, as well as provide a new home for the town’s emergency medical services, replacing the overcrowded former fire station currently being used at 1296 Enfield St.
The state is expected to reimburse the town for $12.8 million of the price tag, leaving the town’s share at $2.3 million.
The town had acquired additional property on the corner of Elm Street and Moody Road. The additions to the complex will essentially extend the existing building to the north, and add another parking lot, more than doubling the vehicle capacity.
Last summer, videos were produced, highlighting the cramped conditions at the current building that houses the town’s emergency medical services, as well as the defects in the current police department building.
In the video, EMS Chief Erin Riggott said that the town’s EMTs and paramedics, who respond to 8,000 calls per year, are hindered by the station, which is “problematic, and causes operational hurdles.”
The current EMS building has an “all-function room” which houses crew quarters, patient documentation, training, and space for meals - all of which have to be scheduled to avoid conflicts. The new facility will allow separate rooms for all of them. The current building also has no locker rooms (instead lockers are in the back of the ambulance bay), therefore no privacy.
The police department has roof issues, which include water leaks in the evidence room. It also does not have a dedicated training space and lacks enough locker space to accommodate all of the town’s female officers.
The new complex will allow more space for an indoor firing range, more space for IT, and more room for storage of apparatus. It will also have an ambulance bay for eight vehicles, and more parking.
The new complex will also be able to house regional public safety training, and other regional functions are being explored.
“We look forward to this addition solving not only a whole host of practical, everyday issues, but also what it can do to make a great department even better,” Fox said.
For more information, visit www.enfield-ct.gov.
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