$8.25M Skowhegan (ME) Public Safety Facility Project All Set

Following the Board of Selectmen agreeing Tuesday to hire Westbrook-based Benchmark Construction for the construction of an $8.25 million public safety building in Skowhegan (ME), the project is set to commence, reports centralmaine.com.

The decision comes weeks after initial project bids came in much higher than expected. Some cost-saving measures were implemented to the initial plan presented in the October bid, but no square footage was removed, according to the report.

In 2020, Skowhegan voters passed an $8.9 million bond to build a combined fire and police station on East Madison Road. In addition, town officials have a reserve account of $1.1 million, according to the report. Once the building is complete, officials say furnishing it will require two grants to pay for lockers, while the town is working to secure another grant for an industrial washer and dryer.

Skowhegan has thus far spent about $670,000 on the project, including buying the land in 2018 and utilizing consultants and engineers. The town has already hired Haley Ward Inc., a Bangor-based consulting group.

The facility is planned for the corner of East Madison Road and Dunlop Lane. The tentative plan is to move into the new facility by the end of 2022, the report says.

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