Comparison to Westhampton, Paxton, Ashburnham Projects

The town of Westhampton recently voted for a $4.3 million public safety complex. See the attached rendering of what their building will look like. Why can they build for so much less than what is being proposed for Princeton?

Westhampton is roughly half the size of Princeton at a population of 1,600. It appears that bids came in at $4.25M +/- and we suspect the balance of the ask at their ATM is related to construction phase architect and OPM services. As you may expect, being a larger town, Princeton responds to just under just under twice as many calls annually as Westhampton. (https://www.westhampton-ma.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif5191/f/uploads/fd_annual_report_2020.pdf)

The Westhampton Public Safety Complex includes approximately 9,450 sq ft on the first floor and 3,483 sq ft on the unfinished second floor. The project was bid as a “Pre-engineered Timber Framed Structure”. The building includes a single stair tower and an area noted as “future elevator”. The upper floor houses the mechanical space for the building plus open space that we assume is for future use and will be completed by others at a later date and with additional funds.    

Westhampton is missing a lot of spaces that we have included in our design because we believe they are necessary for a building that we want to have last for at least forty years. For example, they didn’t include locker rooms for police or fire staff. We made the decision to include those spaces so staff don’t need to drive home in uniforms that are potentially contaminated with carcinogens or drugs. 

In comparison to the Princeton Public Safety Plan, some of the Westhampton Building differences are:

• No holding cells
• No interview rooms
• No armory
• Only a Police Chief’s office
• No locker rooms / Showers inside toilet rooms
• No fitness room
• No kitchen/breakroom
• No medical storage
• No dedicated SCBA room
• No bunk rooms

Caolo & Bieniek believe there is some sitework that the Town is performing but they are looking further into Westhampton's plans.

To be added: side by side comparisons with Ashburnham, Paxton, Westhampton