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Main Fire Station or FS1

Westwood’s main fire station, Fire Station 1 on High St., urgently needs to be replaced with a safe, modern facility, that can meet the current needs of the Town. Fire Station 1 (FS1) was built in 1948 when the Town had an all-male, volunteer fire department. Since that time, the Westwood Fire Department has become a full-service department with a staff of 46 manning the facility 24 hours a day.

FS1 is undersized, outdated, inaccessible and was not built to support the weight of today’s apparatus. The facility was built 75 years ago and has not undergone a major renovation since 1975. In its current state, FS1 no longer meets the needs of the Westwood Fire Department or the community, and the building’s structural issues pose a significant risk to the safety of firefighters and visitors.

As the Town moves ahead with the necessary steps to determine the best, most fiscally sound solution, we want to offer residents some background and perspective.

The timeline

• In 2013, the Town convened a Public Safety Facilities Task Force, comprised of community members, town elected officials and staff to study Westwood’s three aging public safety facilities – Fire Station 2 in Islington, the Police Station and Fire Station 1. The Task Force determined that larger, and more updated facilities were needed for Westwood to meet the needs of the 21st century. The Task Force’s disciplined analysis recommended a phased approach to address the three public safety facilities, starting with rebuilding the Islington fire station on the same site, then rebuilding the police station behind the existing station. The plan also reflected the need to address Fire Station 1 in the near term.

• In 2015, Town Meeting authorized the construction of the new Islington fire station and, in 2016, Town Meeting authorized the construction of the new police station. Both of those projects were funded without any tax increase to residents. Since that time, our community has focused on the capital needs of the School District with the consolidation of the Hanlon and Deerfield Elementary Schools in the Pine Hill construction project, which was completed with major funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

• In 2022, the Select Board commissioned an operational study of staffing at the Westwood Fire Department and a feasibility study of Fire Station 1. Those studies recommended that the Town develop design and bid documents to replace Fire Station 1 at its existing location.

• At a Special Town Meeting held on January 17, 2024, the Town voted to allocate $2.1 million – funded from free cash – for the development of the design and bid documents for a new Fire Station 1. The Select Board has already voted to allocate $1.4 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for the balance, contingent on Town Meeting’s vote. Following the Special Town Meeting, the Town selected Dore & Whittier as the design architect and Vertex as the Project Manager.

• Through the design and bid process, which takes about a year, the Town can obtain an accurate construction price to present at a town meeting to be held in 2025. But before then, there will be ample opportunity for community engagement and significant involvement from members of the Westwood Fire Department.