The town of Foxborough is auctioning off its old fire station on School Street, a building that hasn't been used for public safety since 2007 when firefighters moved into a new facility on Chestnut Street.

The town tried unsuccessfully a year ago to find developers for the old brick station and adjoining lots. At the time, Town Manager William Keegan said auctioning the property was an option – with the goal to generate more activity downtown.

The former fire station was built in 1924 on the corner of School and Rockhill streets.

The property to be auctioned totals about half an acre and includes the adjacent 1800s home that once had been used as a funeral home. Zoning allows a mixture of residential and commercial uses on the site.

The auction is scheduled for Dec. 15 at noon at the Boyden Library, 10 Bird St. There will be an open house at the site beforehand, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

For more information, view www.bostonglobe.com

Some residents would prefer the town look elsewhere for a new location, town officials were equally clear that the site for the facility is settled.

Fountain Hills Rural/Metro Fire Chief Randy Roberts told the audience of about 15 that they wanted input on what steps to take to be the best possible neighbors.

Roberts said they will do all they can to be responsive to residents' concerns.

They have already committed to working on a design that blends with residential architecture. There will be no outside radio speakers and they will minimize the use of flashing lights and sirens.

However, Roberts indicated they are required to use lights and sirens on all emergency responses. The station is expected to receive four to six emergency responses on a 24-hour shift.

There will be six firefighters assigned to the station, including ambulance crew.

Architecturally the facility would be a single-story building with three equipment bays. There would be parking for about 15 cars.

The existing Fire Station No. 2 has some response times in the range of eight to 12 minutes, well beyond the five minutes Rural/Metro is contractually obliged to meet.

Also, the station handles only 20 percent of the call volume in town. The new site would expand that to around 40 percent, a much better balance of resources, according to Roberts.

The current schedule calls for the architectural selection to take place in January or February. The design schedule would take place between March and October, with the construction bidding process to take place in November and December of 2016.

Construction would then take place during the 2017 calendar year with work expected to take the entire year.

For more information, view fhtimes.com

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