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07/22/2024 07:20 AMOn July 17, community stakeholders and supporters came out to celebrate the new North Branford Police Department (NBPD) facility, fulfilling a long-term goal for the town. A crowd of supporters cheered when local, state, and federal officials joined NBPD members to cut the police tape at a grand opening celebration for the state-of-the art building.
The new facility at 305 Forest Road is the result of a $16.2 million project supported by $4.5 million in state funding and $1 million in federal Emergency Operation Center (EOC) grant monies. Construction of the building, which supports both police services and North Branford’s EOC, began in February 2023.
Town Manager Michael Downes emceed the morning event which included several speakers. Members of the Town Council, NBPD, Board of Police Commissioners, and the town’s Permanent Project Building Committee, were joined by U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-3), State Senators Paul Cicarella (R-34) and Christine Cohen (D-12) and House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora (R-86) at the event.
“While we just broke ground on this facility in February last year, the journey to get where we are goes back much further,” said Downes. “The old police facility just across the street long ago became an obsolete and insufficient headquarters for the men and women who do such an excellent job protecting our community.”
Prior to making speaker introductions of some who played key project roles, Downes thanked the many community members, leaders, and legislators who made the project possible. Downes also thanked Candelora on behalf of the town for his “...constant dedication and support” throughout the multiyear effort. Additionally, Downes also thanked retired Police Chief Kevin Halloran, who was in attendance.
Chief of Police James Lovelace also thanked Halloran for all of his work to help bring about the new facility. Lovelace said the new building marks the culmination of an 8-year project.
“We have been blessed with the support of our community, our state and federal partners, and all of our elected town officials to create and build a state-of-art police facility,” Lovelace said, adding, “Newfield Construction [Hartford] did an amazing job. We were tough. The timeline was strenuous and we demanded perfection every step of the way.”
Developed and designed to meet today’s needs, with adaptability to meet the growing needs of the community, Lovelace said the building will be icon for police facilities now and into the future. The building was designed by Silver, Petrucelli & Associates, Inc. (Hamden). The Town's project engineer was Criscuolo Engineering, LLC (Branford)
Lovelace said the support received for the project has now put the small, rural community of North Branford on the forefront of law enforcement which delivers the finest public safety to its residents.
“To be honest, at the beginning of this endeavor I never imagined we would reach this point. It’s not often in law enforcement we see this type of investment into a facility,” said Lovelace, adding, “...this is not our building. This is our community’s building -- something they can be proud of. [This] building will serve as a landmark in our town and the epicenter of community engagement; building and creating new partnerships as well as cultivating an environment of trust and unwavering public safety service for all of our community.”
Thanking all of those who helped to bring about the facility through the years, Mayor Rose Angeloni especially thanked the Permanent Project Building Committee members for their dedication over the past two years of the project. She said the residents of North Branford should be proud of the facility; and that NBPD members are deserving of it.
“To the men and women of the North Branford Police Department, this facility is for you. At the old facility, you had to put up with many things, and we know that you will appreciate this new facility,” Angeloni said. “As council members, we are all honored to have our name on that plaque; and that we committed to building this new facility. It will serve the community for decades to come.”
Police Commission chairman Victor Pietrandrea expressed his thanks to all involved before offering the spotlight to Police Commission vice-chairman and Permanent Project Building Committee designee David Palumbo for further comments.
Palumbo echoed the thanks provided by other speakers, adding, “I would like to thank all the men and women that serve this department. Every day, they go above and beyond.”
Palumbo especially thanked DeLauro and Candelora for “believing in us; finding the funds at the state and federal level. Because without them, this project wouldn’t happen.”
DeLauro led the congressional effort to generate $1 million in federal EOCgrant monies for the project. She said Palumbo was a fierce advocate of the effort.
“I have to tell you the number of phone calls I got from Dave Palumbo. He was indefatigable,” said DeLauro.
Candelora spoke on behalf of the state delegation, which supported the project by helping to garner $4.5 million in state funding. Candelora added his thanks to town councilwoman Marie Diamond for her many years of unwavering support of the project.
Candelora said the new facility’s design incorporates form and function contributing to all aspects of the town’s law enforcement needs and mandates, including data collection and certain protections and protocols that government places upon them.
“This building responds to a lot of those requirements. In addition, it goes above and beyond just protecting the residents of North Branford...it has regional capabilities that can protect other towns in our communities. It really is a very forward-thinking building, the first of its kind, I think, in the state of Connecticut,” Candelora said. “I think it will be an important model that we will see in other regions. On behalf of Senator Cohen and Senator Cicarella, it just gives us great pleasure to be part of this, and to be able to make sure the state paid its fair share and it didn’t just fall on the local communities.”