John Gaccione

Date: 01/09/2021

Subject: Public Safety Building Remodel

From: Ad Hoc Design Committee

The Kensington Fire District has declared a cooling off period for the Public Safety Building remodel project. Folks may wish to take advantage of the time out to think about how to proceed with the project.

The remodel provides seismic and current code upgrades while trying to shoe horn in both the Kensington Fire Department and the Kensington Police Department. A major problem is the existing building footprint can’t be expanded. The cost estimate so far is about 7 million dollars and counting. Good heavens!

At the moment it is unclear if after spending the money the building will be able to have enough bay space for equipment and door clearance for future fire trucks. From a practical and financial perspective does the 7 million dollar remodel investment make sense?

Hold on; didn’t someone on the Fire Board suggest we might try thinking “outside of the box”?

In a perfect world the police headquarters would be located near the center of our community. The geographic center of Kensington is somewhere near the “T” intersection of Arlington Avenue and Sunset Drive. But alas, there is no suitable property available.

Thinking “outside the box”, why not locate the two departments in separate buildings? The Fire Department could remain in the remodeled building. The Police headquarters could be located in another part of our small community, away from the major earthquake fault instead of on top of it. Can I get an Amen?

How about remodeling an existing building in the Colusa Circle area for a police headquarters? Are there practitioners of the real estate arts who could conceive of such an arrangement? And not risk bankruptcy? Mr. Hammons and Mr. David have properties that could work. And there’s the stalled project on the empty lot at the corner of Colusa Avenue and Oak View Avenue.

By Jove, potentially the Colusa Circle area could become the gateway to our bucolic village of Kensington. As an extra bonus we could see a heightened respect for stop signs around the Colusa Circle. If only!

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” (William James)

Caution: Thinking outside the box for prolonged periods may lead to tilting at windmills.