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Tyngsborough weighs buying 100 Potash Hill as a lower‑cost option for fire and police facilities
Summary
Town officials said they are preliminarily exploring acquisition and retrofit of 100 Potash Hill Road — a 36,000‑square‑foot office building — as an alternative to building new public‑safety facilities. Staff said an architect feasibility review is planned and any purchase and funding would require Town Meeting authorization.
Town Manager Colin Loisel told the Select Board on July 13 that the administration and staff have begun early feasibility conversations about acquiring and retrofitting 100 Potash Hill Road as an option to construct new police and fire facilities.
"We toured the property two weeks ago," Loisel said, describing the building as a brick office property of a little over 36,000 square feet that could accommodate both police and fire. He stressed the work is preliminary and that acquiring and retrofitting an existing building could be far cheaper than constructing a new public safety building from scratch.
Loisel said his immediate next step is to retain an architect to do a short feasibility assessment — not a full design — to identify mechanical, structural and programmatic retrofit needs and to produce an order‑of‑magnitude cost estimate the board could bring to Town Meeting. He said he hopes to have that analysis in roughly one month and expected the fire station building committee to present a fuller set of options at a joint meeting on Aug. 10.
Select Board members pressed for timing, how the town would fund work and how the inquiry relates to the fire station building committee’s charter. Several members emphasized that the committee retains its focus on the originally scoped site while the town manager’s team explores parallel paths. "The fire station building committee is staying focused on that charter," one board member said; Loisel and others stressed that any acquisition would still require board authorization and a Town Meeting funding article.
Board members also raised questions about the building’s condition and what an architect’s review would need to cover. Loisel said the building appeared well maintained in an initial walkthrough but that an architect would be asked to assess mechanical systems, structural elements and other items not visible on a walk through. He noted the town has building‑permit records and other data to help that review.
Ending: Loisel and staff will proceed with a short, focused feasibility review and return to the board — the fire station building committee will continue its process and the board expects an update at the Aug. 10 joint meeting.
