Waltham Approves $10 Million Bid For New Moody St Fire Station

WALTHAM, MA — In another step toward a new fire station, the city council voted Monday to fund the $10 million renovation and construction of the Moody Street Fire Station. This means you can expect crews to begin to prep the site at the corner of Maple Street for construction in the coming weeks, said Cathyann Harris councilor for Ward 8.

"This means lots of site prep," said Harris, who is shepherding the project, the city will get the contractor, M.O'Connor, to sign on to the deal. Following that, the contractor will in the next few weeks come on site and do a site prep plan.

Phase 1 will be planning around the restoration of the existing fire station, and some more demolition and then a staging for the renovation and ground breaking in the summer.

Harris said every Friday the design team is meeting regularly to lay out the schedule, and she is planning monthly neighborhood meetings to keep folks in her ward updated.

"We're excited. It is so great to be talking about it and it's happening, too," she told Patch in an interview.

The Moody Street Fire Station was built in the 1800s, when firefighters drive to the fires via horse-drawn carts. City Councilors say that firefighters tell them on hot humid days you can still smell the horses. For years, the city has talked about how to best upgrade the historic station that they say is severely outdated.

But it's only been in the past few months under the push of Harris that the city has made significant strides to that end. The city approved funding $239,000 for the demolition of the Young Building near the corner of Moody and Maple to make way for a new Moody Street fire station late last year. Then, in February a demolition crew tore down the old Young Building.

The project appears to running back on the schedule Harris and the city and fire department working groups put together. Bids for the construction project were slated to go out in February but went out on April 1. But the funding request was slated for March or April and the city council approved the first reading of the budget request last month. The timeline estimates construction will begin late spring, which with the approval Monday night appears to be on track.

The fire department sent out a request for bids in the beginning of April and three companies responded, according to the fire chief.

"M.O'Connor Contracting inc, was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder," Fire Chief Tom MacInnis wrote in a memo to the mayor asking for $10,149,390 to go toward construction, architect fees and security cameras for the site. The mayor only asked city council for an even $10 million.

The city council agreed to fund the project by selling bonds.

Previously on Patch:

• New Moody Fire Station Project: City Approves Funds For Demo (Dec. 12)
• First Look At New Moody Fire Station Project (Dec. 18)
• Demo Day In Waltham: Young Building Is Demolished (February)

• Waltham Considers $10 Million Bid For New Moody St Fire Station (April)

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).