WATERVILLE — Police will move into a new police station at Head of Falls early next year, if all goes according to plan.
The City council’s 5-2 vote Tuesday against buying the Morning Sentinel building for a police station automatically puts into effect a vote councilors took Feb. 7 to build at Head Falls, City Manager Michael Roy said Wednesday.
Tuesday’s vote followed a study by Port City Architecture and Wright-Ryan Construction, Inc., to determine whether buying and retrofitting the Morning Sentinel building for a police station or building at Head of Falls was the best and most cost effective option for the city.
Port City, Wright-Ryan and the council-appointed Police Station Study Committee all recommended building new at Head of Falls.
Roy said Wednesday that there were a lot of twists and turns in the process for locating a site for the police station.
“At least now we’ve decided where, ”Roy said. “So I am very, very relieved that now we can proceed and meet this last remaining capital improvement need that the city is facing.”
The plan is to break ground for the police station by about Sept. 1, according to both Roy and John Charette of Port City.
Charette said Wednesday that it will likely take six to eight weeks to finish up designs and drawings for the police station. The process will include talking with Roy and police Chief Joseph Massey, he said.
“We expect police to be operating out of the new facility by early spring of next year,” Charette said.
Roy said Wright-Ryan is the general contractor for the project and subcontracting work will be put out to bid as soon as a design is complete.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
[email protected]