Beverly Police Station
OVERVIEW
The new 32,000 SF Beverly Police Headquarters Facility project included the installation of a 21st-century security system, advanced technology, a joint police/fire dispatch operations center and an emergency communications system. Inside the three-story facility is a detention area with prisoner cells, a dispatch center, an animal control room, small offices and a bullet-proof lobby on the ground floor; locker rooms, training spaces and offices on the second floor; and offices for detectives, the police chief and other administrative personnel on the third floor.
W.T. Rich also spearheaded the installation of a state-of-the-art simulation training room on the second floor, an initiative drawn from research on technology-based law enforcement training. The space will be equipped with virtual reality technologies to create reality-based situational training scenarios that will teach law enforcement officers de-escalation techniques as well as best practices for responding to any and every situation that might present itself out in the force. These efforts from the project team and City of Beverly representatives will help ensure that every law enforcement officer and member of the community are protected and safe.
Project Information
Location: Beverly, MA
Completion: 2021
Contract Value: $22 M
Size: 32,000 SF
Type: New Construction
Owner: City of Beverly
Designer: Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.
Delivery Method: CM-at-Risk (M.G.L. Chapter 149A)
Highlights and Challenges
- Confined Urban Site: This project is located on Elliott Street, a heavily traveled route through the City. Additionally, residential neighborhoods, local businesses and the MBTA railway abut the project site on all four sides. Logistical planning was critical to ensure no disruption to commuters, adjacent businesses and neighbors.
- Bass River: The site is located across the street from the Bass River, which impacted the team's ability to install the storm drainage system optimally. Facilitating safe excavations required meticulous coordination with the tidal patterns to ensure such excavations did not get flooded out before they were properly installed.
- Soil Management: All material that required excavation from the site had to be replaced with clean, imported structural fill. Relocation of the existing soil to an appropriate disposal site took up to three weeks, making the site's already-small footprint even smaller.
- Ground Improvement Design: The BPS project site was located over undesirable soil conditions that required ground improvement or subgrade structural support elements. W.T. Rich recommended utilizing a Geopier system for building and site elements to strengthen the ground conditions as a cost-effective alternative to a steel pile/pile cap structural slab system, which was implemented successfully.
- Fast-track Schedule: Prior planning, high-level design phase input and insight, and the ability to manage unforeseen conditions and challenges are a few of our defining attributes to the BPS project. Getting ahead of the issues resulted in our ability to meet tight schedule and budget constraints, and deliver a successful project to the City of Beverly. Additionally, the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic placed limitations on the team's ability to receive materials and supplies on time throughout the construction process.
- Complex MEP System: The addition of complex geothermal systems created further congestion in the mechanical room, requiring a carefully and well-thought-out coordination process to ensure all of the equipment had code and maintenance access.
- BPO System Launch: The project team implemented the use of a facility maintenance-based application containing all construction site photos, O&M's and training videos linked via barcodes. This app lends to exceptional maintenance for years following the culmination of construction as stakeholders have readily available access and exact pinpoint locations of any system issues that may arise within the facility.