Dartmouth Voters Decide Fate of Police Station Plan on Tuesday

DARTMOUTH - The Dartmouth Police Department is crossing its collective fingers ahead of Tuesday's town election. That's when residents will decide whether to approve a $13 million debt exclusion to build a new headquarters at the site of the former Gidley School.

For two years or so, the department has been operating out of a series of trailers. Dartmouth Police Union President Sean McGuire says those structures are nearing the end of their shelf life. "With the 24/7 use and the weather conditions of New England, the problem that we're having is the building's already having issues. We had a pretty good water leak into the building that last snow storm we had when it changed over to rain, so I don't think we have much time left in that building, either," says McGuire.

The new building would be the first station actually built specifically for the police department. The former station on Russells Mills road was the former town hall. Dartmouth Police had to permanently evacuate the building after the discovery of Legionnaire's Disease in the building's plumbing.