Saco Public Works moves into new building

SACO — The public works department has moved into a new facility that will meet the department’s needs well into the future.

The new facility, located at 15 Phillip Springs Road in the Spring Hill business park, opened for operations in October. The total cost of the land purchase, facility, grounds, fuel island and all related utility infrastructure was about $9.75 million, said Public Works Director Patrick Fox.

In November 2017, voters approved a $7.25 million bond to help fund the facility. Additional funds for the project came from the sale of the former Public Works facility at 351 North St.

The city purchased the land for the new facility in 2018 and construction began in fall of 2019.

City officials had long talked about the need for a new public works building. The former 17,000 square foot public works facility on North Street was built in the early 1970s as a trucking terminal, with offices on the second floor that were not handicapped accessible.

The new 25,000 square foot building, by contrast, was built specifically built as a municipal public works facility, with the needs of the city in mind.

“It’s a much better work environment,” said Public Works Director Patrick Fox during a recent tour of the building. All the offices are on a single floor. The front door of the building leads to a lobby with a service counter – a much more welcoming entrance than the previous building.

The new building has a conference room that can be used for community meetings and closed off from the rest of the building for after-hours use. Workspace is more thoughtfully laid out for more flexible use. There are also showers – a nice amenity for staff coming back from a sewer call or a long shift on a snowplow.

The garage bays are a good eight to ten feet taller than the bays at the previous building, giving staff enough room to safely lift city trucks without hitting ceiling fixtures. The door bays are wider, making it easier for the larger vehicles to enter. There is now room to park snowplows inside and get them prepped. Radiant heat from the floor helps melt snow that gets dragged in.

There is also a wash bay with equipment to properly wash sand, salt and grime off cars and potentially increase their life expectancy by a few years.

The city was unable to have an open house due to COVID-19, but is working on a video tour of the new facility.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.