New Moody Fire Station Project: City Approves Funds For Demo

WALTHAM, MA — The city approved this week the $230,500 funding for the demolition of the Young Building near the corner of Moody and Maple. Watch for crews to move in and take down the building in the weeks to come.

The Moody Street Fire Station was built in the 1800s, when firefighters drive to the fires via horse-drawn carts. City Councilors say that firefighters tell them on hot humid days you can still smell the horses. For years, the city has talked about how to best upgrade the historic station that they say is severely outdated.

"Getting the approval to take down the building is a huge step forward in this process," Ward 8 City Councilor Cathyann Harris who has been championing the project told Patch earlier.

The building is expected to be demolished by year's end and will become a temporary parking lot for the firefighters during construction.

Next up: The mayor will sign the contract for abatement and demolition, said Harris. Then the project will take 90 days start to finish. The first step will be noise abatement then demolition will begin. Harris said she expects to have a date for that by the end of the week. And once the date is in hand, she said the city plans to communicate over social media and in all the local news organizations to get the word out. Stay tuned for more Patch updates on this.

"From start to finish it's 90 days. So once this starts it's going to move pretty fast," said Harris. Construction is set to begin in 2019, she said.

In April, the mayor appointed a design team that included an outside design firm, chief Tom McInnis, Purchasing Agent Joe Pedulla, Harris, and John Millian the building inspector. The fire chief then appointed a subgroup of firefighters. In October, the city approved the demolition but it wasn't until Monday that the funding was approved.

The Moody Street Fire Station building was built in 1890, and is included on the National Register and State Register of Historic places.

Waltham firefighters have been talking about a new Moody Street station for at least two decades.

City Councilor Robert Logan of Ward 9 said he was on the commission charged with finding a new location and remembers picking out the Young Building as a property to buy after the city looked at different sites, then decided on renovating the existing station.

The building next to the station, 509-527 Moody, was acquired by the city back in 2012.

"I'm glad that it's moving along. This has been a long time in the making," he said.

He remembers the commission wanting to get to it years ago, but because of tenants and leases it was complicated.

"We've had to wait and it's been kind of agonizing. It's something that's urgently needed," he said. And not just because of the deteriorating conditions in the space, but because the firefighters and their equipment have outgrown the space.

"The current apparatus, when they go to back it in, there's only like 1 inch clearance on either side," he said. "This is definitely a key milestone and I'm thrilled."

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff