Fresh Start to Plan for a New Fire Station 1: Residents Share Ideas with FS1 Working Group (Updated 10/10/2025)

Westwood Select Board is soliciting community opinion in a survey - one step in its process of rebuilding community trust - with a more open and transparent process for planning a new Fire Station, announced town officials at the Select Board’s Public Safety Forum on October 7 at Westwood High School.

“One of the things that we heard as part of the process leading up to the last decision was that the working group was not an open enough committee. So we decided, okay, we’ll open it up to everyone,” said Westwood Select Board Chair Robert Gotti in apparent reference to the September 9, 2025 Special Election result in which residents rejected the board’s proposal to fund a new fire station in excess of limits on taxation under Proposition 2-1/2.

"We want you all to feel engaged and informed as to what the trade-offs are relative to those options. That's the piece that I think there was lack of visibility and therefore mistrust on. So we're inviting everybody in. We're showing you how the sausage is made," he said.

The Westwood community took advantage of Select Board’s invitation, with over 30 residents providing input and asking questions of attending members of the 15-member Fire Station 1 Working Group: Interim Town Administrator Molly Fitzpatrick, Fire Chief Steven Lund, Assistant Fire Chief Colin McCarthy, Director of Community and Economic Development Nora Loughnane, and Building Commissioner Mike Perkins. Also joining the working group on the panel to provide information  and answers was Westwood’s Finance Director and Treasurer/Collector Stephanie McManus.

Of the three hour forum moderated by Westwood’s director of human services, Danielle Sutton, about two hours consisted of dialogue between the attendees and panelists. The discussion followed about one hour of Ms. Sutton and the panelists laying a foundation for discussion and describing eight new design concepts.

Through public comments, residents expressed their sentiments about plans for a new fire station:

• Cost is the biggest obstacle.

• Planners' focus should be better community engagement and communication, taking into consideration stay-at-home parents who cannot attend in-person meetings.

• A new FS1 should be built for future needs - otherwise it will have to be built again in only 25 years.

• Residents should be provided with a clear schedule of the status of debt being carried by the town, to inform current decision-making.

• Many residents expressed distrust and lack of faith in a working group that they said did not include average citizens. 

• A few residents expressed lack of clarity regarding how "programmatic needs," which drive the fire station design, are determined and by whom. A third-party objective determination of defining programmatic needs was requested.

Through discussion, Chief Steven Lund conveyed why he thinks residents may have a hard time understanding the needs of the fire station, including its need for increased square footage. He noted  his belief that because staff have done their best to live with the resources they have, and haven't complained, the extent of the department's needs have not been widely known. However, the current size of the fire station has long been inadequate he said. The ladder truck routinely hits lockers containing turnout gear while backing into the station, administrative offices are crowded, staff attending a training session in the station cannot fit into a shared space to hear the speaker, and a female firefighter was unable to continue pumping due to lack of privacy. Additionally, cancer preventative measures such as decontamination spaces are a relatively new standard, resulting in additional need for space which was not planned for in the past. Mental health of firefighters is also a new focus that relates to new space needs, translating to new wellness and fitness areas.

Attendees, for their part, brought fresh ideas and constructive discussion to the table such as:

• When fire department personnel require meeting space in municipal buildings, they should be given priority over other community groups requesting use of the space.

• Westwood Select Board should form a citizens’ committee to work with the professionals and planners to increase community input in the planning process.

• Fire station spaces should be examined for their ability to be multi-functional and multi-purpose, which may allow for a smaller footprint in a new station;

• More information and attempts to engage the community are needed on the topic of Westwood's 10-year or 15-year plans, to help inform taxpayer decisions on needed investments in the town’s municipal buildings; 

• State representatives should be contacted regarding the possibility of tapping into what has been called the millionaire’s tax (Fair Share Amendment) to help pay for the new fire station;

• The town should obtain an appraisal for the site and property of the existing FS1 to better inform voters of the desirability of selling the property and applying its proceeds against costs of building in a new location;

• Sheehan School site should be considered as an alternative location for Fire Station 1; and

• A new configuration for a public safety campus was proposed that does not require demolishing Town Hall.

Attendees also took time to consider the eight design options presented by the working group. Briefly described, the options are:

• Option 1: Renovating the Existing Facility. This option would leave the fire department with even less space than it has now, in an already overcrowded FS1, said Chief Lund. Renovating rather than rebuilding means that the structural deficiencies in the apparatus floor would have to be “shored up”, with structural supports taking up space where a spare engine, ambulance, and a car are currently stored.

• Option 2: Downsizing the Dore + Whittier Design. Voters implicitly rejected the architectural firm's design when they voted “no” on September 9th
  on the question of funding its $38.1 million price tag. Some programmatic needs would not be met with the downsizing. Training space and wellness areas like the gym, and space for a mechanic would be removed. This scaled-down design is expected to cost less than the original Dore + Whittier design.

• Option 3: Add a Fire Station 3 on University Avenue. Chief Lund noted this option, which would require the town acquiring property through eminent domain to build a new fire station along with maintaining two existing stations, is the most expensive but would be ideal from an operational point of view. He said, “We understand the additional cost and we understand this just isn’t in the realm of reality, but we want to put out every option that was presented to us and talked about.”

• Option 4: Locating New FS1 to Town-Owned Land Behind Starbucks on High Street. While the currently landlocked area presents an access issue to High Street, Assistant Chief Colin McCarthy noted that building in this location could meet all of the department’s programmatic needs. Director of Community and Economic Development Nora Loughnane added that size of the building would be flexible here, as the location allows the apparatus bay to be independently sized from living space, unlike the rejected Dore + Whittier design for the current FS1 site. Although costs can only be guessed at, Ms. Loughnane noted that this option is expected to be less costly than the $38.1 million Dore+Whittier design.

• Option 5: Combined FS1 and Department of Public Works Behind Starbucks on High Street. Interim Town Administrator Molly Fitzpatrick noted the idea of combining facilities could result in shared training space, mechanic space, and utilities. Chief Lund noted that this design might eliminate the ability to have drive-through stations.

• Option 6: Building FS1 on High Street Properties Acquired Through Purchases and Eminent Domain. This option was described as containing many unknowns. Assistant Chief McCarthy declined to take a position on this design, given many outstanding questions. No particular properties were described as being considered. However, it has been established that it is the area of High Street between Churchill Road and the Dunkin' shop (915 High Street) that allows the fire department to access every point in town within NFPA codes or standards.

• Option 7: Public Safety Complex with FS1 and Police Station on High Street. Chief Lund noted that while a location with the police station would allow for building a facility that meets all programming needs, it would create significant parking problems for police and library patrons. Additionally, building space could be very cramped on that site. Ms. Loughnane noted that this option is expected to be more costly than the $38.1 million Dore + Whittier design for rebuilding FS1 at its current location.

• Option 8: Build FS1 on Deerfield School Property. Assistant Fire Chief McCarthy noted the former school site lacks direct access to High Street. Ms. Loughnane also noted that use of the school property would require approval by the Planning Board and Conservation Commission. Additionally, use and care of the property currently falls under the authority of Westwood’s School Committee. According to School Committee member Anthony Mullin, the property is currently or recently used by the school district's Information Technology Department, Westwood Media Center, and the Westwood Department of Recreation. The School Committee plans to vote on what to do with the Deerfield School property at its December meeting, he said.

Foundational to any option that is selected are the following priorities, said Ms. Sutton, referring to a panel presentation slide:

• Providing optimal response times for firefighters and their equipment to effectively protect the community.

• Provide firefighters with a clean and safe living/working area.

• Ensure adequate living space that supports a diverse and growing workforce.

• Make a prudent financial decision that balances community safety and fiscal responsibility.

Following Tuesday's public safety forum, attendees were asked to indicate which two of the eight options (plus two others raised in public comments - (1) use of the Sheehan School and (2) a reconfigured public safety campus) most captured their interest. They were asked to answer a survey online by scanning a QR code or by physically placing stickers on poster boards depicting each plan outside the auditorium as they exited. 

The survey remains open for community members to pick their top two designs before October 20, when the Select Board next meets. A recording of the forum discussion is available online on the Town of Westwood's webpage or on Westwood Media Center's YouTube channel for those who were unable to attend but would like to review the new design options. Residents are also invited to provide feedback to the Select Board by email at bos@townhall.westwood.ma.us

Updated 10/10/2025 at 10:30 p.m. A correction has been made to a previous statement that incorrectly included Finance Director and Treasurer/Collector Stephanie McManus as part of the FS1 working group. Ms. McManus was a panelist joining members of the FS1 working group on October 7 but has not been a member of the working group, herself.

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