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Sgt. Frank Shea stands outside Greenfield’s newly renovated police station in the Old Town Office Building on Francestown Road. -
Sgt. Frank Shea at work in the new office. -
The second-floor conference room with furniture donated by Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain. -
Station dog Henry Giammarino checks out the new space. -
Henry on his new bed in the chief’s office.
After months of renovations and finishing touches, the Greenfield Police Department has fully moved into its new space at the Old Town Office Building on Francestown Road.
The building, which had previously served as both town offices and the fire station, housed the police station in a corner of the lower level until 2001. The building is now completely dedicated to the police department, with offices and storage rooms on the ground floor and a conference room on the second floor.
“We may have a few more boxes to unpack, but basically, we’re all settled in, and we’re just feeling so blessed to be here,” said Greenfield Police Chief Brian Giammarino.
Giammarino credits Town Manager Aaron Patt for securing American Rescue Plan Act funds to complete the renovations to the town-owned building. Greenfield received $196,000 in ARPA funds to put toward municipal improvements, enabling the town to renovate the space at no burden to the taxpayer. Giammarino says the project had the support of the entire Select Board, particularly Mike Borden.
In 1999, when Greenfield Elementary School moved into the new ConVal district school building on Forest Road, the town offices, including the Police Department, began moving out of the Old Town Office Building and into the original school building. Once the move was complete in 2001, the Old Town Office Building was then rented out for several years and used as office space by Crotched Mountain Foundation, which installed ramps and an elevator, making the whole building accessible.
In 2020, the Crotched Mountain Foundation sold the Crotched Mountain School campus and vacated the Old Town Office Building. Soon afterwards, the COVID pandemic caused the Select Board and town officials to start considering ways to address tight space in the town offices. Creating more space for the town clerk’s office and the Police Department were top priorities, with the goal of moving the town clerk into the space occupied by the police on the lower level and moving the Police Department back across the common into the Old Town Office Building.
Looking out over the center of Greenfield from the new station’s second-floor meeting room, Giammarino says his favorite thing about the new police station might be the view, which encompasses the Meetinghouse, the old town cemetery, the Greenfield Meeting Place building, the intersection of Route 31 and 136, and village residences. In winter, the sunset on Mount Monadnock can be seen through the trees.
“We can kind of keep an eye on everything from up here,” Giammarino said.
The upstairs conference room has already been used to host training exercises for surrounding departments, including a recent session with Hancock, Lyndeborough and Francestown.
“They can’t believe this beautiful space we have here; everyone is so grateful to have it. We are constantly training in the Police Department, and the more we can train with other departments and share our resources, the better it is for everyone,” Giammarino said.
Giammarino noted that the conference room, which can be entered separately by exterior stairs, can also be used by the public. Elevator access is available though the downstairs entryway.
“This is the town’s room. It can be used for meetings, Boy Scouts, anyone who might need the space,” the chief said.
At the suggestion of officer Michael Eneguess, Seven Hills Foundation, the new owners of the Crotched Mountain School, donated a corporate-size conference table and chairs for the second-floor meeting room. A Peterborough police officer donated AV equipment.
“So many people have helped us and been so generous,” Giammarino said.
The renovated building is equipped with security cameras that monitor the entire exterior of the building and look south to Greenfield’s main intersection at routes 31 and 136. A dedicated IT room in the station houses state-of-the-art technology and security equipment.
“Our old space was just fine; we had no complaints. A lot of police departments in small towns are really just a hole in the wall, but this town has always been very good to us. We are so fortunate with this new building that we now have the space to do an even better job for the town. This is like the Taj Mahal for us,” Giammarino said,
After funding was secured, the Select Board asked Giammarino and his team, Sgt. Frank Shea, officer Shane Sweeney and Eneguess, what they wanted in the new space, and the team worked out a floor plan.
“Our top priority was safety for our officers and safety for our residents,” Giammarino said.
Enhanced safety features in the newly renovated space include a secure entryway that prevents people from entering the station’s offices without being greeted and identified.
“In the old space, I would always have the door open. I did that deliberately, to let people in town know they were always welcome in the Police Department. But we are in a different world from 20 years ago,” Giammarino said.
Giammarino now has his own office, which he shares with his dog, Henry, whose new bed (provided by Giammarino) matches the gray of the station’s walls. The rest of the force shares a large office space with multiple desks overlooking the town common.
Other features include a dedicated “complaint” (meaning any kind of public statement) room for members of the public, a separate booking room and a secure room for storing, cleaning and maintaining the department’s equipment and weapons. The station also has a secure storage room for evidence. The department is required to secure and store certain types of evidence indefinitely, along with decades of files and case records.
The new station also includes a restroom with lockers and a shower. The heating system was upgraded to a more-efficient mini-split heating and cooling system, along with an energy recovery ventilator system that brings in and conditions fresh air, improving air quality in the building.
Many town residents volunteered to help create the new station, including Iris Waite, a mechanical systems engineer; and Ed Bergeron, who volunteered to upgrade the electrical system. Shea, Eneguess and Sweeney painted the walls, and Shea refinished the floors in the conference room, which is adorned with some of his drone photography of Greenfield.
“This was really an all-town effort to get us in here, and we could not be more blessed,” said Giammarino. “Our town could not support us more.”