Committee OKs Design For Renovation of DPW Building; Bids Out In 2019

Photo:Belmont DPW building which will be renovated and undergo construction in 2019.

During the winter of 2019-20, there will be one big difference when the first storm blows through Belmont; the crews plowing the snow will finally have a place they WANT to come to take their break.

On Tuesday, Oct. 16, the Department of Public Works/Belmont Police Department Building Committee approved a final design plan for the renovation of the DPW building at the Town Yard off C Street.

“We are very happy, ecstatic really,” said Marcotte, director of the town’s DPW, who had been pushing the renovation/construction along with Committee Chair Anne Marie Mahoney who has been the champion of improving the deteriorating infrastructure at the DPW and Police Headquarters at the corner of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue.

Mahoney has for years advanced the cause of these “orphan” projects – as they had no natural supporters among residents – with the idea of making repairs to the structures so “to create a humane conditions for our employees.”

Bids on the $1,189,000 project – paid out of the town’s operating budget so it did not require a debt exclusion which was approved by the Town Meeting in May – will be going out in February and awarding the contract in March. The work would not start until April after the winter weather has finished, said Michael Santoro, manager of the DPW’s Highway Division.

It will take about six months to renovate and add to the interior of the 70-year-old building with the construction of locker rooms, showers and laundry space, room for training and quiet rest and a small amount of office space. Renovations to the existing area will provide a more suitable kitchen and break room space and additional restrooms.

The committee selected the third of three design schemes presented by The Galante Architecture Studio of Cambridge. See design plans below; an overall view of the work on top with a more detailed view below.