Saturday, September 20 ~ 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Harvest Festival
Celebrate the season at Winchendon's annual Harvest Festival, an evening of live music--including a special performance by headliner New Release and a performance by Local Musician Maggie Neff--plus mouthwatering food trucks, local vendors, and festive fall fun the whole community will enjoy!
Tickets $10 per person, available at https://www.eventeny.com/events/ticket/
At Winchendon Community Park
86 Ingleside Drive
Sponsored by Winchendon Parks & Recreation.
This Week's Winchendon News
Chief Smith Presents Details and Schematics on Fire Station Project to BOS
Photo copyright Town of Winchendon
Photo copyright Town of Winchendon
At a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Monday, September 15, Winchendon Fire Chief Tom Smith appeared before the Board with a slide presentation and detailed explanation of the fire station remodeling project. The Board asked Chief Smith to prepare this presentation for them at their regular meeting on September 8.
Chief Smith began by explaining that the current building, which fronts on Central Street, is 5,600 square feet. That will remain in place, but no longer be the main entrance. "We did feel that renovating and keeping the current building that was there, along with the addition, was something that was economically sound for the town. They've put money into this building. So anything that we could use, as far as redoing this building, we felt was a savings to the project," Chief Smith said.
The new addition would extend east from the back of the current building and add 11,630 square feet to the station. It will have four new bays and a new public front entrance facing North Street. (Currently this area is occupied by parking lots and a lawn.)
"The proposed addition would include additional truck storage, so that we wouldn't have to take apparatus out of service in the winter," Chief Smith said. "Everything would be kept inside. It also has bunking areas and the administration area. It also has a training room, which would double as a department training room and community training room for our CPR classes, our fire extinguisher classes, any of our other classes that we would do, also as the community room. It also would serve as a Emergency Operations Center. In the event that something happened down at dispatch, we'd be able to dispatch from there. We also would be able to, in a major event here in town, like an ongoing, lengthy storm, even festivals, you would have your operation center opened up there with the capabilities to roll out the dispatch consoles."
The new addition would also have "hot, warm and cold zones" for decontaminating gear and equipment as they return from calls. Apparatus would have diesel exhaust capture systems. "None of the structural turnout gear should be going into the bunk rooms. It shouldn't be going into any of the meeting rooms, the training rooms. They shouldn't be going into the public spaces. So we would be keeping all that in the section that was renovated from the old station," Chief Smith explained. Even exhaust residue builds up invisibly on surfaces and is carcinogenic.
The electric sign will stay where it is. Both sides of the building on Central and North Streets will have signs reading "Winchendon Fire" above the bays.
The building exterior will have a wood cladding product which allows insulation underneath it (the current brick facing has no insulation) and will not have to be repainted. "It's much more durable and rot resistant," Chief Smith said. "It starts off as a natural brown, and over two-three years, it turns into a silver, which will blend better into the neighborhood...there's a couple different manufacturers. We would obviously look at the price point, and warranties were anywhere from 25 to 60 year warranties on the material."
For the building structure, Chief Smith said, "We'd be doing the existing concrete block. We'd be going over that with the addition of a steel frame and additional concrete footings on the new addition portion, with the steel beams and all that to allow for the weight of the roof, and also putting the mechanicals up on the roof, as far as the HBC systems, or any of those systems that would go on a roof."
The new addition will have six identical single-occupancy bunk rooms. This allows for an extra room or two on top of what crew on shift need, for the use of interns and other incidental workers at the station. The current station has one bunk room with multiple beds. "Most, if not all of the fire stations being built now are being built with the individual bunk rooms," Chief Smith said. "It allows for better rest. As far as the firefighters go when they are resting, it allows for if they want to come back from a serious call, and they may want to decompress differently, on their own, they go into their own space. Outside the bunk rooms would be lockers where the full time shifts would need to be assigned a locker. They could have their stuff there. We wanted to put that outside so that if they had a late call and multiple calls throughout the evening, like we usually do throughout the night, the incoming crew could still come get this stuff out of their locker, prepare for their shift, and we could still function without interfering with the outgoing shift."
After going into some detail about the organization of the spaces in the new addition, Chief Smith talked about how much the project had been scaled down from its original proposal in 2019. That plan was for a 24,000 square foot addition, more than double the current proposal. When voters rejected the plans, the project was drastically reduced. But at the same time, construction costs have risen steadily. In 2022, when voters approved funding the designs for the 11,630 square feet, the estimated cost of construction was $8.24 million. It has now gone up to $14.4 million, in just three years.
"To continually push it down the road, the costs are going up dramatically, probably approximately 3 to 6 percent each year," Chief Smith said. "So depending on the project, you're looking at it going up to potentially $15.9 million in '26 and then $17.5 million in '27. I don't think it's wise to keep pushing it off, because the cost is not going down, and the need isn't going away. So when you equate the two, it definitely is something that will project out to continuing to increase, as far as finances go."
Board member Melissa Blanchard asked if anyone had considered getting Monty Tech students to work on building the addition, reducing the cost. Chief Smith said they had talked about it, and when he worked in Templeton, Monty Tech students worked on some renovations of their fire station. "They do excellent work," he said. "The problem being that it takes a long, long time." It's also hard for them to commit to a project this large. Adding a new bathroom or remodeling a room is more practical for them to help with.
Responding to another question, Chief Smith said the costs for the new addition are for construction only. The costs of filling the new spaces with furniture, equipment and so on was not included. "We are using as much as we can from the old station to bring into the new section. There is a possibility of potentially applying with Robinson Broadhurst down the road. They don't like to take part in the actual construction of this project, but they may look to potentially assist with, 'the icing on the cake' kind of thing."
"The next slide I have is one that people always want to know about, the tax impact on a project of this size," Chief Smith said. "The thought would be that it goes out on a 30 year bond. That would be something that would be discussed, whether it's here, with the treasurer or the Town Manager. The proposed impact currently, right now, is the tax rate is $11.75, it would be an impact of going up 39 cents per $1000 [of valuation]. So the average single family home value in Winchendon is $340,000, almost $341,000, so the estimated increase on the tax bill would be $132.98 for the year, annually." He added, "Again, that changes. If your house is a lesser assessed value, then the impact would be down. If you have an assessed value of $250,000 the impact would be approximately $97.50. If you have a million dollar home here in town, it'd be $390 for the year, annually."
He went on to talk about things that would affect these estimates, such as the new tax rates, which are set in December, interest rates, and the possibility of getting grants or loans that the town could look into.
Board Chair Andrew Beauvais said, "Divide that out by twelve months, it's not a huge ask. Now, for some, it may be, and I don't want to downplay that, but overall, for what you're getting, I think $133 is a reasonable ask." (It would be $11.08 per month.)
The timeline for the project to be completed depended on how fast it was approved by voters and then put out to bid. Construction from start to move-in was estimated at 16-17 months, Chief Smith said.
"I think getting behind the project itself is important for a couple of major aspects," Chief Smith said. "One is the health and well-being of the firefighters. We've had an officer retire, a deputy with cancer, job related. We've had another current full time member that was out on job related cancer issues. We're expecting firefighters to go forward and perform their day-to-day activities, which they did sign up for. I'm not going to be one of those that sit there and say, they chose the job they did.
"But I also don't think that choosing the job at the expense of not doing all we can to protect them is an adequate thing for a town. I think that once you get to the point where you're willing to do a job to protect the community, I think that it's correct to protect them as much as we protect the community.
"I think as far as the size of the project, I think that putting forward a building that gives them that space that they can retreat to after a call is important. I think that doing it in a way so that there is no relevance whether we have male or female firefighters, or whether we have firefighters of any gender, any ethnic race, anything--we really don't care, as long as you can do the job. We've been very upfront with that. Whenever we hire, we don't discriminate either way. However, we then expect them to come and all stay in the same room.
"It's great, maybe when you're growing up in your family and you're related, and you haven't wanted to have a campout and sing Kumbaya, but when you're expected to be working in a job that also has you in a situation that you may not feel comfortable in, then I think that's wrong. So I think that having the individual rooms like that does help with that and solve that. I think that improving the well-being of the firefighters so that they can better serve the community, because ultimately, they are public servants. So they are here to to serve the citizens of Winchendon, but I think that when you've got a project like this that can give back to them a little bit to help them better serve the public, I think that's something that should be completed."
Mr. Beauvais agreed and said that he felt there should be a fall Special Town Meeting to present this to voters. Town Manager Bill McKinney verified that there was money in the budget for a fall Town Meeting. The question didn't have to be decided on the spot--the Board could vote on a motion at their next regular meeting on September 22.
Board member Audrey LaBrie asked Chief Smith to put together a timeline of public information sessions for the project so that everyone could coordinate their plans to participate and get the information on this vote out to the public.
GALA Has "Grand" 25th Anniversary Celebration at Old Murdock
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
The Gardner Area League of Artists' 25th Anniversary "bash" at the beautiful historic Old Murdock building was grand. Deb Giordano, president of GALA, stated, "We thank the town for allowing us to host our event in this building that showcases its beautiful wood architecture. It was delightful to be in this building in celebrating the arts and music and supporting the community at 52 Murdock Ave. I hope to see other organizations sponsor events in this beautiful space in Winchendon."
The second floor gallery room was filled with affordable art.The art gallery will still be open displaying original art until October 30. Residents can come and visit the gallery during Senior Center open hours or by appointment.
The bash, which ran from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m., featured live music, a kids' hands-on art activity table, artists' trunk sales, an ice-cream buffet table, raffles--there was something for everyone.
A warm thank you to all the following businesses for supporting GALA to continue our mission promoting artists and the arts in Gardner and surrounding communities. Our generous donors and supporters included Red Apple Farm, Murdock Dairy Farm, Theatre at the Mount, Gardner Ale House, Fitchburg Art Museum, Sippin Serendipity Coffee Cafe, Smith Country Cheese, Creative Connections, Dominoe's Pizza, Walmart, Surroundings Gallery Custom Framing and more.
We thank the musicians from "Sounds Bites" for providing a pleasing lineup of musicians: Brian Dickens, Franco O'Malley and Kate and Ashley.
Thank you to all who were able to join us in celebration. Our art show in the gallery will stay up till October 30. If you are interested in purchasing a piece of art, call 978-407-1419 and we can arrange to meet.
If anyone would like to have a solo art show in the gallery, contact us. If you are interested in becoming a GALA member, visit our website, www.GalaGardner.org, to sign up. You may also sign up for our monthly e-newsletter and receive our emails of upcoming shows, events, and a variety of art classes for all ages. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GalaGardner where we publish our events. Contact GALA at info@galagardner.org
GALA was organized to promote the arts as an essential component of a healthy community. We believe that artistic expression is a community's greatest legacy for future generations. GALA will increase awareness and appreciation of the arts by way of exhibits, instruction, musical programs, and poetry.
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Photo courtesy of Deb Giordano
Ten Finalists Selected to Vie for the Beals Prize for Poetry
The Beals Memorial Library has announced that ten poets have been selected as finalists in the 2025 Beals Prize for Poetry. Now in its sixth year, the competition drew the attention of 87 poets from around the Bay State and the Monadnock region of New Hampshire.
The award ceremony will be held at the library on Thursday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m., when the top ten finalists will read their submissions. Directly after the readings, a panel of three distinguished judges will announce the prize winners. Prize money of $250.00 for first, $100.00 for second, and $50.00 for third will be awarded to the contest's three best poems.
The finalists are Laura DiCaronimo of Hubbardston for "Mother's Daughter"; Sarah Hall of Athol for "Abecedarian in the Spring"; Howard Kogan of Ashland for "This Poet"; Lilla Lyon of Peterborough NH for "The Blame Game"; Miriam O'Neal of Plymouth for "the God Chronicles"; Connolly Ryan of Florence for "All Over the Map"; Hillary Smith-Maddern of Greenfield for "At Banshee Bar"; Lynne Viti of Westwood for "Suburban Living"; Prudence Wholey of Shelburne for "Vanished"; and Karolina Zapal of Florence for "Cost of Love".
Jurors for the contest are poets Sara Letourneau, 2023 winner of the Beals Prize for Poetry, Managing Editor at Heart of the Story Editorial & Coaching Services and author of "Wild Gardens"; Maria Williams, author of White Doe, winner of the 2023 Verse Daily Prize, and A Love Letter to Say There is No Love; and Cleo Rohn, current holder of the 2024 Beals Prize for Poetry.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon, MA. For more information, please call the library at 978-297-0300.
This event is funded in part from a grant from the Winchendon Cultural Council and by the Friends of the Beals Memorial Library.
