NCtre fire station proposal021815 | Newton MA News and Politics BlogHere’s something much more appealing than yet another snowstorm to chew on. Public Facilities will hold a public hearing this Wednesday, 2/18, on the proposed site plan/design for a new Station #3 and renovated Fire Department HQ. If you can’t make the meeting, you can view the presentation here.

Eight basic configurations were considered, with a variation of Option 7 being preferred. It has the advantages of preserving the historic HQ building, and not requiring it to be moved, preserving the green space on Centre Street (thus leaving the 9-11 Memorial alone), requiring only a minimal easement on the MWRA property, and not requiring acquisition of the commercial property on the corner.

The variation of Option 7 is to have new connecting wing come off the HQ at an oblique, rather than right angle. Compared to Option 7 itself, this appears to enable access to the parking lot from Willow Street, rather than through the present Verizon vault access.

It also would appear to allow preservation of what looks like the tallest tree on the site, which I really hope will be considered. You can see this tree just northeast of the HQ on the aerial view of the present site. (Being on the north side, it would not interfere with what look like solar panels on the roof of the equipment bay.) Other than that, it looks like existing trees will be undisturbed, and more added.

There is another set of numbers, 1, 1A, 2, and 2A, for different materials options for the exterior of the new wing, which I haven’t figured out the pros and cons of. Would anyone more knowledgable like to weigh in?