Mansfield Municipal Building project under way

By Stephanie Prokop
   MANSFIELD — The first round of renovations is under way on a township-owned building that eventually will house the municipal offices, Municipal Court, and Police and Fire departments, all under one roof.
   The 60,000-square-foot brick building on Route 206, just north of the village of Columbus, is undergoing phase one of a three-part remodeling. The first phase — getting the Fire Department into the building — is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Township Administrator Joseph Broski said Monday.
   The township purchased the building from New Millennium Management LLC in 2006 for approximately $4.7 million. This past spring the township hired an architectural firm, J.H. Enterprises Inc., of Burlington, for $1.3 million to renovate the bottom part of the building, which will house the Fire Department.
   ”Both the mayor, Arthur Puglia, and the deputy mayor, Ken Denti, made a commitment to the Fire Department to get their phase done this year,” Mr. Broski said.
   He added that the current firehouse, on Atlantic Avenue, was built in 1923 and is substandard because the department does not have enough space for fire engines, storage or equipment, and is not handicapped-accessible.
   The Fire Department’s space in the new building will include a decontamination area, as well as plenty of storage and office space, and training rooms and facilities.
   The second phase of development will be getting the Police Department situated in the building.
   As of now, the Police Department side of the building is a warehouse, Mr. Broski said. Even though there aren’t solid plans yet, and there are no architectural drawings or a definitive time frame for that phase, Mr. Broski noted the municipality is taking “baby steps” toward working on a plan.
   The third and final phase will be the relocation of the administrative offices and Municipal Court to the Route 206 building.
   The administrative offices and court have been at their same location on East Main Street in the village of Columbus since 1981.
   Mr. Broski said the township has made minor renovations to the building since the mid-1980s, including making it handicapped-accessible.
   ”It still just continues to fall behind,” he added.
   Mr. Broski noted that the township started looking at plans for another municipal complex in 2005, and at that time passed a bond ordinance securing approximately $7.5 million to pay for architectural design and materials, along with construction costs.