Melrose Mayor Eyes Next Steps For Public Safety Buildings After Report

MELROSE, MA — Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur said the city’s first responders “deserve better” on Thursday after a report by NBC Boston spotlighted dismal conditions inside Melrose’s stations.

Reporter Ryan Kath documented issues ranging from periods without heating or air conditioning to urinals that leak into a basement area.

Brodeur on Thursday said he was “grateful for Kath’s story,” saying it “outlines the significant challenges these buildings have had for decades.”

The Melrose Police Department occupies a building built in 1900. The Fire Department Headquarters dates back to 1895. Other fire stations are newer, though the youngest such building is still close to 60 years old.

Buildings don’t meet current building codes, officials note on a recently launched Public Safety Building Committee website. They’re not energy efficient, and they are two small to meet “functional requirements,” according to city officials.

Officials have warned that buildings are “perpetually leaking, infested and insufficient” for firefighters and police officers.

While recently in the spotlight, Brodeur said, issues with aging fire stations are "certainly not a local phenomenon" in Melrose.

Union leaders with the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts agreed on Thursday. They called conditions in Melrose "unacceptable" in a social media post.

"[U]nfortunately these firehouse conditions are not uncommon across the Commonwealth," the Professional Fire Fighters continued.

Brodeur said recent NBC Boston reporting underscored the reasoning behind a decision to re-launch Melrose’s Public Safety Building Committee in August of 2021.

First formed in 2017, the revamped committee is tasked with determining how to develop what Brodeur described as a “sensible plan to renovate or replace these critical buildings.”

Brodeur said this week that the committee has studied upgrades to public safety building infrastructure in neighboring communities.

Efforts toward a similar project in Melrose will be a “major, multi-year project” for the city, Brodeur said, though many specifics remain to be determined.

Brodeur said the city will have to select a project plan, which will factor into eventual project costs alongside architectural, engineering, construction, land costs and project phasing.

Melrose has put some funding toward long-term public safety building upgrades so far, with the City Council approving a $68,500 request to fund pre-design services from an architectural firm for upgraded fire and police stations.

State legislators secured an additional $150,000 for more immediate repairs to the Melrose Fire Department Headquarters in November of last year via a state earmark.

Brodeur this week said the city’s Department of Public Works has also responded to “many of the issues” identified by NBC Boston, including the installation of new HVAC units and monthly rodent inspections, among other things.

“I want permanent solutions to these issues,” Brodeur said, though.

Brodeur said the Public Safety Building Committee is in the process of preparing project designs with its contracted architectural firm. Next steps, the mayor said, will involve engaging with the community to discuss the project before an expected formal recommendation in the late spring with at least two options for public safety building upgrades.

The city of Melrose announced its new website for the city Public Safety Building Committee on Wednesday evening. The site, officials said, aims to inform the public about the committee’s work to date.

“All of these buildings have served the City well, but have reached the end of their useful life in terms of building systems,” a message on the committee website read as of Thursday.

Melrose has tried to revamp its public safety buildings in the past. But Brodeur this week noted these efforts “did not result in a plan that was supported by all stakeholders.”

This time around, Brodeur said “now’s the time” for community members to get involved in public safety building discussions. Brodeur said community members should visit the city’s website for the building committee to learn more. Individuals with comments or feedback can reach out to the Melrose Public Safety Building Committee by email at MPSBcommittee@cityofmelrose.org.

See the Public Safety Building Committee’s website here.

And see the NBC Boston report on Melrose fire station conditions here.