Current Public Safety Facilities

Current Facilities

Ashland Police and Fire stations both declared "inadequate, obsolete and overcrowded" in 2008 with no room to expand in place. Public safety response also risks dangerous delays due to location along train tracks. There is limited parking, no female facilities, and separate, outdated emergency dispatch centers for police and fire. Technology upgrades have been shoehorned in over the years, and the costs to repair and maintain the current facilities will continue to rise each year.

The current facilities hold the Town of Ashland back from receiving “best practices” in modern public safety.

• Ashland Police station built in 1978
• Ashland Fire station built in 1927

The 2008 study by MMA Consulting Group Inc. found:

• Inadequate space for vehicles and equipment
• Inadequate space for current staffing, both buildings are overcrowded
• Poor design and layout creates safety hazards for agency personnel
• No room for expansion for either building
• Limited parking
• Facilities for female police employees are in trailer attached to police station
• Separate dispatch centers- new station would combine police and fire dispatchers
• No room to conduct training
• Both stations are located next to railroad tracks making them vulnerable to contamination and shut down in event of derailment.
• Passing trains delay emergency response
• Price of building a new facility increases with each year project is delayed