Hingham Public Safety Facility Plan in the Works

By Carol Meyer

The Town of Hingham could have a new, much-needed public safety facility in the not-too-distant future if all goes as planned.

As a follow-up to Town Meeting's support for funding a feasibility study and conceptual design plans for this proposed project, the Selectmen voted recently to enter into a purchase and sale agreement on a three-acre parcel at 335 Lincoln Street, where Russo Marine is now located, for that purpose.

The town has until Nov. 30 as a due diligence period. If the proposal moves forward as the board and public safety officials hope, voters will decide whether to purchase the property for $5.475 million at a Special Town Meeting this fall.

"The police department has definitely outgrown its current headquarters at Town Hall since moving there in the late 1990s," Chief Glenn Olsson said recently.
Such a facility would include a satellite fire station and a new police station -- which would free up about 40 parking spaces at Town Hall currently used by police department personnel and allow for a potential expansion and renovation of the adjacent senior center -- which has outgrown its current space -- into the area now occupied by the police department.