Lakeville likely to OK plan for old police station

Lakeville faces a key decision Monday when the City Council is expected to approve renovation plans that will transform a vacant former police station into a community center for three groups.

The plan, which began as a way to provide a new home for the Lakeville senior center and the Lakeville Area Historical Society, appears to have the votes to pass now that more pieces of the funding puzzle have fallen into place.

Kerrin Swecker has joined fellow Council Members Matt Little and Laurie Rieb in support of the plan. Mayor Mark Bellows and Member Colleen LaBeau, neither of whom could be reached, previously have opposed the project.

A third local group has entered the picture with money to help reduce the $300,000 funding gap that several council members had thought might kill the $1.1 million project. The Lakeville Yellow Ribbon campaign, which helps returning veterans and their families, also would have a small office in the 17,000-square-foot building. In return, the group has agreed to pay about $27,000 to install a commercial kitchen, Michaud said.

The police station "is not perfect, but it's in the right place at right time," said Swecker. She previously was dubious that the project could work without increasing taxes. "It will be a huge benefit to seniors and the historical society and the Yellow Ribbon committee."

Michaud said the council is expected Monday to authorize the project and a construction timeline, but it still would need to approve hiring an architect and project manager. The council also would approve fundraisers to cover the funding gap, as well as the sale of the existing 5,000-square-foot senior center, which is crowded and needs repairs.

If all goes as planned, the renovation would begin in March and the remodeled center would be open by November 2012, Michaud said. He said a representative sample of about 200 seniors surveyed this spring expressed strong support for moving into a renovated police station and some interest in helping pay for the move.

Swecker said she supports the project as long as no new taxes are needed. She said Michaud, who raised money when the current senior center was built in 1985, is a "genius at raising money."

Michaud said another $15,000 in individual gifts has been committed even before the official fundraising campaign has begun.

He noted that senior center members, now numbering about 1,000, have raised $100,000 over the years, which is part of the $822,000 available for the remodeling. The rest would come from selling the existing senior center, a county loan and grant, and $377,000 from a city building fund. City park dedication funds would be used as a bridge loan to cover some construction costs until the two-year fundraising campaign reaches its goal, Michaud said.

He said a plan is being developed to cover, without raising taxes, the increase in annual operating costs of the remodeled police building. A refined estimate has reduced the net increase to $23,000 more than the current cost to run the senior center and historical society office, as well as heat the old police station in the winter. The plan is likely to include a dues increase for senior center members and an annual fundraiser. The 3,000-square-foot society office in an old church rectory downtown is to be demolished.

Monday's council action "essentially is a vote on whether we want to do the project," said Council Member Little. "This is the official foundation to move forward and get this done."