HALLOWELL — In order to better gauge public opinion on two multi-million dollar municipal projects, officials are putting two nonbinding questions on the November ballot to voters — one pertaining to renovating the old fire station and another about building a new multi-bay public works facility.

The former fire station on Second Street was built in 1828 and served as Hallowell’s town hall until 1899, when city hall was constructed. The fire department moved into the building about one year later.

Once the fire department relocated to Stevens Commons in 2018, city officials started discussing moving the police department to the building while keeping the Hallowell Food Pantry in its basement.

Late last year, city councilors heard a presentation from Artifex Architects & Engineers of Bangor with a conceptual design and estimated price tag of roughly $3.2 million. The presentation was met with mixed reactions, as some councilors felt it was overkill to give the police 4,000 square feet at the renovated fire station, which is five times larger than their current 800-square-foot space at city hall.

Some of the expansion, however, is necessary in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For example, while the bathrooms in the current station are 3 feet by 5 feet, the rooms would need to be 6-by-8, or nearly double the size, to meet federal rules.

The council voted in January to keep the building under city ownership as opposed to selling the former fire station and instead of seeking out a new purpose-built facility for the police department.

Altogether, the architect’s proposal was roughly $3.2 million. The construction alone is estimated at $2.3 million and includes masonry, steel, roofing, siding, drywall, replacing windows and insulating the sally port. The remaining piece of the estimate includes overhead and profit, design contingency, the bond and insurance.

The council discussed alternatives to the presented plan in March, and in May discussed placing a nonbinding referendum question on the November ballot asking voters if they would support spending up to $4 million to renovate the former fire station.

City Manager Gary Lamb presented the council with a draft version of the question Monday, in addition to a draft question asking voters if they would approve building a new Public Works facility, and potentially acquiring land to do so, for up to $2 million. Councilors are expected to finalize the language at their next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 12.

The draft question asked if voters would approve renovating the fire station so the police department could go in the middle floor, the food pantry could continue in the basement but with more space, and the community could use most of the top floor as meeting and museum space.

Councilor Michael Frett said he supported both nonbinding questions.

“It would be a tremendous assistance if we had an idea of to what extent, if at all, the city is prepared to receive either of these,” he said.

Lamb suggested adding a sentence to the explanatory note telling voters that the architect’s $3.2 million estimate was done two years ago.

He also suggested removing the words “not to exceed” in the $4 million cost estimate, or potentially changing it to “$4 to $5 million.”

The work would not be starting anytime soon, however, as the city would still need to set aside money to get construction plans in the next budget cycle, which begins July 1, 2023.

“If that’s in the next budget, then we could go full steam ahead to get the plans and the full costs,” he said, “not to do the construction.”

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