Letter: Public safety building on Winthrop School land “not reasonable or feasible”

It has been claimed that a new public safety building could be built on Winthrop School land while the school remains. This is not reasonable or feasible. A new Public Safety Facility, even as an addition to the current Fire Station, would require all the grassy area within the Winthrop School driveway, and up to the school’s front door. 

Aside from the fact that there is a school on the site – and there are no plans for it to ever be used for anything that is not school related – what would it look like if there was a Public Safety Facility at the Winthrop School site?  From Central Street to the new facility would be an asphalt ‘apron’ large enough to turn a fire truck around on.  Then there would be a building, and behind the building would be parking.  The combination of asphalt and building would cover every square inch of green space from road to the front door of the Winthrop School.  The entirety of the green space that one can see from Central Street would be gone. 

As has been said, and written, the Linebrook Road site is the only site that meets all of the requirements for a Public Safety Facility.  Over the past 72 years there have been many sites that have been suggested – but now are no longer available.  The present committee has worked for 7 years and thousands of hours investigating all of the possible sites, configuring a building that will have the least impact on the environment, and designing the best working facility for our town.  Over these past 7 years I have learned that the facility is not just a building, but it is also parking for employees, parking for people seeking help, green space, and a front paved apron big enough to turn a firetruck around.  The building needs to be deep enough for fire trucks, and have enough space for offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, lock-ups, decontamination areas, living quarters, dispatch, storage, etc.  There are a lot of uses that need space and all of those needs are designed into a facility. 

A public safety facility on the Winthrop School site would destroy an important in-town green space.  There would be no room for a school behind it.  It would completely change the center of Ipswich – a change that I don’t want – do you?  The Winthrop School is sited next to some of the most historic buildings in the country and I really don’t think that we want to put a municipal building with the required parking lot in the middle of our wonderful downtown.  Many people love the downtown school with its playground and front fields.  Even if the elementary school is moved to the Doyon site, there will still be school based uses for the property such as before- and after-school programs, preschool, the superintendent’s office, and maybe even a senior center. 

Again, there are many reasons why the Winthrop School site is not appropriate for a new public safety facility, but a significant one is that a new public safety facility is more than just a building.  It is also an asphalt covered parking area which, at a minimum, would cover the entire space from Central Street to the front door of the present school.

Tammy Jones, Ipswich

Member of the Public Safety Facility Committee