Lanesborough Advancing Two Public Safety Building OptionsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:09AM / Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | |
 The second option would put the ambulance into a separate building on the site. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board has voted to advance two public safety complex options for public review.
A $7.3 million facility could hold police and emergency medical services under one roof and, for $6.5 million, the departments could have their own buildings.
The final choice will be in the hands of residents at a town meeting.
In 2023, voters rejected a proposed $5.9 million police/EMS complex 139-214. The committee thought that it was a good proposal and asked that the cost be updated for another try.
The 7,222 square-foot combined police and EMS build would cost about $7,365,868. Alternatively, a 4,814-square-foot police station with a separate two or three-bay EMS facility would $6,509,900.
All options would be constructed at 405 South Main St., the former Skyline Country Club.
The committee recently presented five options to the board and proposals for just a police station were scrapped. After hearing from leaders of the Police, Fire, and EMS departments the board recognized that EMS is a top priority.
The Fire Department was eliminated from designs after the planners found that a station would cost $27 million on its own.
The EMS department is currently housed in the fire station at 180 South Main St. which is owned by the Fire Association. It has been asked to leave because of insufficient space. The Select Board discussed progressing the EMS building first at an estimated cost of $2,851,282.
Before the police/EMS facility was rejected in 2023, Lanesborough was earmarked $1 million in funding through the state bond passed by the Legislature in 2022. With voter approval, the funds can be released for the project and more money can be requested each year.
Last year, the Select Board voted to work with RCAP Solutions as a consultant in the financing application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program.
The USDA's Community Facilities Program can help provide funding for public safety buildings to purchase equipment but typically, the grant funds cannot be used for construction itself. This would require a USDA loan, which requires more financial work to prove that the town can repay the debt.
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