In a tentative win for the Historical Commission’s ongoing efforts to renovate rather than demolish the old police station, the Select Board unanimously voted Oct. 30 to look into commissioning a study to find out whether the building could be made safe for residential or office use. 

While the official motion only directed the town administrator to “put together a package” on the study for Select Board review, the decision signals a marked shift in the board’s approach to the police station’s slated demolition. 

The decision comes after a visit by the Historical Commission to the old police station with their own volunteer consultants: UMass Dartmouth engineering professor Ronald DiPippo, construction project manager David Silveira and his son Christian Gwozdz-Silveira. Gwozdz-Silveira, speaking to the Select Board, claimed the building is “sound,” and could be renovated.

The building was first built in 1926 and served as Dartmouth’s Town Hall.

It eventually became the town’s police station, and was left unoccupied after legionella bacteria was found in the pipes in 2014. An officer became sick that year with what was diagnosed as Legionnaires Disease, which is caused by the bacteria. The building has since been vacant. 

In 2016, an $8.5 million plan to renovate the station was rejected at Town Meeting. In 2019, a committee to look into the police station was formed, which decided that reuse was not an option. The demolition of the building has been approved at Town Meeting twice. 

Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes was asked by member Stanley Mickelson to give his take on the building’s reuse potential as a structural engineer. MacInnes said the 2004 addition to the building is in bad shape, a point which Gwozdz-Silveira disputed. MacInnes also said asbestos would need to be cleaned out of the building, which an asbestos professional determined would cost $110,000. 

“Saving buildings sometimes is a lot more costly than building new buildings,” MacInnes said.

At a previous joint meeting with the Historical Commission, the Select Board gave the commission permission to visit the building and report back with their findings. 

At the Oct. 30 meeting, the Historical Commission requested a feasibility study to look into the building’s reuse. A feasibility study carries specific connotations, so the Select Board voted only to look into a “study.” 

Select Board member Frank Gracie was the first to speak in support of the commission’s request. Gracie said he thinks “moving forward at this point would be soon,” and he wants to give the station’s reuse “another look.”

Member Heidi Silva Brooks and Chair David Tatelbaum both expressed their interest in having an impartial professional look into the building’s potential for safe air quality. 

Member Stanley Mickelson stressed this point, and said he wants to be absolutely sure whether the building is safe from asbestos or legionella: “God forbid someone got sick and we let someone in that building,” he said. 

Member Shawn McDonald shared his reservations on both sides.

“I don’t want to be the guy to say ‘just knock it down’ when there’s potential to do something with it,” McDonald said. “I also don't want to be the guy to go into the building, and all of a sudden it just becomes a money pit to fix or remediate.”

While historical commission members Sue Guiducci, Christina Sewall and James O’Day spoke in support of the building’s future, not all historical commission members are still on the same page. At the commission’s Sept. 18 meeting, member Philip Baker said he no longer supports the effort to renovate the police station, and now thinks continuing to work towards that goal is “craziness.”

“That building should be torn down and something should be built in its place. You’re gonna waste a lot of money,” Baker said at the time. “You’re trying to fix up the Titanic, bring it to the surface, and make it a playground.”

MacInnes said he’d work as quickly as possible to get the information together about a study for the Select Board’s review.