The new headquarters of the Marion Department of Public Works is nearing completion and will be enclosed for the first time by week’s end, according to the town’s Facilities Director, Shaun Cormier.
“All the garage doors are getting installed,” said Cormier. “The sheetrock is up. Some of the finish HVAC is going in next week, not this week.”
Located on the spot originally recommended by former DPW Director Rob Zora, the new building measures 200 feet long, 72 feet wide, approximately 26 feet high, and is divided into three basic segments for operations including vehicle maintenance/wash bay, a mechanics shop, office space and a locker room with showers, along with a large, cold-storage space to protect town vehicles from the elements.
Waiting now on Eversource, the building is still operating on the temporary electricity and lighting that has enabled the building through the winter months.
Vetted by the Planning Board in November 2023, the DPW building began construction a year later with the arrival of Morton Buildings prefabricated materials and the digging of piers to anchor the foundation and connection to water and sewer infrastructure.
“Tractor-trailer trucks, they showed up one after another, all pieces. It’s like a giant Erector set,” said DPW Director Jody Dickerson. “I still have mine,” he joked.
Soon after, the frame went up quickly. Phase 1 was completed in November with the addition of temporary electricity and lighting to aid indoor work in the winter months.
Interior trenching and piping for the basis of the wash bays’ radiant heating system under the concrete floor was completed early in winter, and by the end of winter work on office space was well under way.
General contractor South Coast Improvement is scheduled to complete its mission by the end of April, which will be handed off to the town for finishing work inside and out.
“A lot of that is town responsibility, just like a lot of the exterior grading is town responsibility,” Cormier explained. The Facilities Department is responsible for detailing the inside of the building, and the DPW will iron out the grading, landscaping and paving.
The cost of construction approximates $6,000,000, and Town Meeting last voted to allocate funds for the project two years ago. By handling as much as it has rather than farm out work, the town has saved over $500,000, according to Cormier.
Originally designed as a two-building concept not including the salt shed yet to go up near the water tower, the building was redesigned as one building so as to eliminate infrastructural and other redundancies.
The building will be entirely powered and heated by electricity, and the south-facing half of the building’s roof is designed to accommodate solar panels.
“That side gets sun, all day,” said Cormier.
The salt shed planned for later in the summer is to be located between the building and the water tower at Benson Brook. Cormier said that funding for the salt shed is in the procurement stage.
Cormier said the builders have not had to deviate from the design. “It’s so simple that there weren’t any major changes,” he said.
“I’d be happy if I’m in by June,” said Dickerson. “Being realistic, spring is our busiest time.”
The present DPW site on the opposite side of Route 6 will become the subject of warrant articles for a capital project subject to vote by the Annual Town Meeting. The proposal is to remove the old, wooden buildings and preserve and renovate three of the buildings at the site.
By Mick Colageo