State selects new location for 911 call center on Meredith Center Road

LACONIA — One of two state 911 call centers, currently located on the Laconia State School property, would be relocated nearby, according to plan the state's emergency services department previewed at a meeting with the planning board Tuesday night. A 21,000-square-foot complex and an adjacent outbuilding at the corner of Meredith Center and Lane roads are included in the proposal.

Following a long saga involving Manchester developer Robynne Alexander, a $21.5-million deal for the purchase of the State School property was thrice delayed until it finally collapsed earlier this year. The state put that property back on the market and is in the process of selecting a bidder to purchase the property for development.

The State School was at one point a facility to serve developmentally disabled persons and a state prison at another. 

When a new developer is selected and a purchase and sale agreement finalized, which Gov. Chris Sununu said in an interview on July 4 was sure to occur before the end of his tenure, emergency facilities at the 911 center will be relocated over a two-year period.

Sununu said the state earmarked $14 million to fund the construction of a new emergency services complex, theoretically saving LRMFAA a significant financial burden.

Now, the state has selected the location for the new emergency services facility: a 7.5-acre, state-owned parcel, located across from Robbie Mills Field. The lot, which is vacant, is valued at $147,800, according to a government property database. When complete, the parcel will be designated 311 Meredith Center Road. The state purchased that land in October 1951.  

Senior Architect Jennifer Robinson of Harriman Architects, a firm with locations in Maine and Portsmouth, told members of the planning board the construction phase of the development is expected to take around 18 months, beginning in January 2025.

Harriman is listed as the party in charge of architecture, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and civil engineering for the development. No general contractor has yet been listed and R.W. Gillespie & Associates of Biddeford, Maine, is listed in charge of geotechnical engineering. 

No applications or plans for approval were presented before the planning board on Tuesday, but such approvals are needed before construction begins.

“This will replace the current facility, which I believe was down the road at Communications Drive. It is about 21,000 square feet and then there’s a separate noncritical facility that would be adjacent to it that’s pretty small by comparison,” Robinson said. “This building is designed to meet current and future needs. It’s designed for redundancy, for all of those things that you want to have in a 911 call center to make sure it’s safe and secure and is going to last the State of New Hampshire a really long time.” The outbuilding is listed in the plans at 2,700 square feet.

Mark Doyle, director of New Hampshire Emergency Services and Communications, a division of the Department of Safety, said it’s too early to put a price tag on the project. Bids for work to be done must first be submitted and reviewed in order to gauge probable costs, but he said he wouldn’t be surprised if the expense exceeded the $14 million earmark state officials have set aside for the project.

“It’s quite possible,” Doyle said following the meeting, noting this project is broad in scope and magnitude.

“There are two entities that actually work out of the building currently and there are going to be two that actually work out of the building as it's being built right now,” Doyle said during the presentation. “It’s the folks from the division of emergency services and communications at 911 as well as the folks who habitate the other side of the building currently, which are Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid.”

Robinson told planning board members the design of the new facility, which will be home to around 45 state and mutual fire aid employees, is designed to limit visibility from the road and will be constructed using varying materials so as to break up its silhouette.

“On their [LRMFAA's] side of the building, it could be anywhere between four and five [people] on a given shift,” Doyle said. “On our side, we also have not only [telecommunicators] but we have a section of mapping, addressing and special projects that work out of there as well so it could be upwards of anywhere between 35 and 40 additional people in addition to the four or five working at [LRMFAA].”

There will be ample parking for employees, and state representatives do not anticipate frequent visitors, so just a handful of spaces for them should suffice. There are to be designated accessible parking spaces in front of the building plus an accessibility ramp with a 5% grade, Robinson said. 

The main entrance to the facility is planned to be located on the Lane side, and a secondary entrance for emergency egress may be located on Meredith Center, according to architectural documents presented to the city on Tuesday night. At present, the property is large, open and empty with thick treeline on its border. Trees will be cleared to make way for construction.

Ward 1 Councilor Bruce Cheney noted the plans call for two wells, a septic field and a retention pond, and suggested the city work with the state to run municipal water and sewer services up to the facility. He said if the state were to work with the city on the water services, perhaps footing some of the bill, it would allow the city to make its first steps toward extending municipal services up Meredith Center and the surrounding area. 

“There’s water and sewer at the bottom of the hill — why don’t we work with 911 to give them sewer and water from the bottom of the hill up?” Cheney wondered. “I think we could even eliminate that retention pond if you were allowed to run off.”