Expansion of the nearly 50-year-old Central Fire Station from one to three floors could cost $4.1 million, according to a preliminary report presented Monday to the Town Council.
The panel in January formed a committee to look into space and storage at the 366 Tuttle Road building, as well as an inventory of the station’s apparatus, to come up with a department needs analysis, building assessment, and conceptual site plan.
The town also hired Port City Architecture to produce a preliminary design report, which included the cost estimate - a figure whittled down from a $5.1 million total rebuild.
"We're still working out the specific details, but (the project) will add 6 cents to the mill rate, as presented here tonight," Town Manager Bill Shane said, noting that the numbers are preliminary, and could possibly decrease when the project goes out to bid.
Since Town Council authorization for the funding is allowed in Cumberland, the project is not required to go to referendum, Shane added.
The expansion would take place next to the station, replacing a house the town purchased more than 20 years ago and has since used for sleeping quarters for emergency personnel.
After the house and the station's administrative section are demolished, a two-story addition would be built, along with a lower level accessed off a new 27-space parking lot. An existing parking lot with 22 spaces would remain.