In 1998 the Boston police relocated to Roxbury. Now the old building downtown has been redeveloped as—this is no ethnic joke—an Irish theme hotel.

Somerville

In his January 2 inaugural speech, Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone declared that his "two great issues" for the coming year will be a new Public Safety building and better climate protection in the city.

Curtatone didn’t specify the weather he was planning to provide for the coming year. But the mayor was very specific when he came to the police station. The present one "has to go—not only because the police need a better facility, but also because it occupies a key site in the larger Union Square development district…."

The Somerville cops have only occupied this building for about 20 years. It is supposedly being abandoned because of chemical contamination. Yet it could be an ideal site for luxury condos.

The previous headquarters, also in Union Square, was in fact sold to a developer. The mayor has already picked the closed Powder House Community School building as the new location. That is near Tufts University.

Cambridge

The smell of brimstone persists a year after the City of Cambridge moved to take a site in East Cambridge for a new police station. The previous owners of the Bent Street site, Paul Lohnes and Charles Laverty, are politically connected. Lohnes has links to the police; Laverty used to be City Assessor.

The property was being developed as a telecoms facility, so it enjoyed special tax privileges under State law. The Planning Board gave it a Special Permit during the development moratorium in 2001.

Under the terms of the Special Permit, Lohnes and company were to make certain street improvements. Normally a development of that size would have paid for 20 housing units under the City’s inclusionary zoning ordinance. Lohnes and company group delivered none of these things. Taking the property by eminent domain means they never will.

It was on April 11, 2005, that City Manager Robert Healy revealed to the Cambridge city council that an wonderful site on Bent Street had suddenly become available for a new police station.

"We will offer such a good a price," the City Manager said, "that the owner will not contest it in court." The price was $29,500,000.

Two weeks later, a grateful city council unanimously voted to name the former dot-com lemon after Healy. Since Healy said the new police station would resemble a concrete fortress, we now call it "Fort Healy."

During the month before the Bent Street site was voted, police officers had visited neighborhood meetings to make the case for a new station. They said that they wanted to move out of the Central Square headquarters.

They didn’t take notes when residents objected to the move. They never went to the East Cambridge Planning Team at all, which is odd since Fort Healy is supposed to be in East Cambridge.

The city councilors congratulated themselves on acquiring a new structure that would be large enough for the police’s needs. Now it appears that the city may seek additional tenants for it besides the police.

Construction was permitted to Lohnes and company for $7.5 million. Another, larger check has now appeared in the records, as if to justify the price the city is paying. At this date, the City has not produced a record of any assessment.

The police say that their existing station in Central Square is dilapidated beyond repair. However, the City did not produce any report comparing the costs of relocating with the costs of rehabilitating on site.

There has been talk of locating the school department administration in that building. Presumably, that would cost something. On the other hand, it would also be an ideal location for a luxury condo development.

Watertown

The big issue in Watertown politics last year was—the selection of a site for a new police station.

After fighting long and bitterly among themselves, Watertown councilors blamed Town Manager Driscoll for manipulating the process to secure a vote in favor of the former Browne School on the west side of town, rather than the former Coolidge School on the east side.

But none of the councilors questioned the need for such a move.

The police chief, town manager and planning department insisted with one voice on the urgency of spending $15 million on a new station and of abandoning the old one in Watertown Square.

A few years earlier, an official Watertown planning study intoned: "The Square is the heart of the community. The Square is the civic seat of the town."

But the town manager said that keeping the police there would cost an extra $1 million—far too much to pay for a heart and a civic seat. Especially when it could be such a nice place to build luxury condos.