City officials are preparing to accept proposals for the sale and redevelopment of the former Second Street fire station in downtown Hallowell, above. On Tuesday councilors will discuss the future of the building, which has been uncertain for years. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Archive

HALLOWELL — City officials could soon accept proposals for the sale and renovation of the former fire station on Second Street, leading to a possible decision as early as April.

The future of the old fire station has been uncertain for years. The officials have done tries to keep the building under city ownershipand Hallowell residents largely supported a non-binding referendum to renovate the building.

An initial discussion on what city officials hope will be included in the proposals is scheduled for Tuesday’s City Council meeting. City Manager Gary Lamb, District 2 Councilman and Property Committee Chairman Michael Frett, and Mayor George Lapointe edited the Request for Proposals, or RFP, which was based on the city’s latest attempt to Safe proposals for the sale and renovation of the building in 2020..

During that last round of bidding, only one bid was submitted: $10,500, from Eric Perry, owner of EJ Perry Construction Co. Inc., and his wife, Pamela. The city had appraised the building at $300,000 just a year earlier, but Perry’s estimate of the cost of renovating the building lowered its purchase price.

The City Council voted to solicit proposals again in July, when District 5 Councilman Patrick Wynne advocated adding $250,000 to this year’s budget for the sale of the building.

Any money earned from the sale will go directly into a capital improvement spending line item in this year’s budget, according to Wynne’s proposal, helping to shore up revenue in a tight budget year.

The RFP asks potential developers to preserve the building’s exterior to state historic building standards and says the city would prefer proposals from developers who have worked on historic preservation projects before. The application also includes a preference to preserve the basement as the location of the Hallowell Food Bank and add a museum on the upper floors, which would showcase the building’s 200-year history and memorabilia from the time the fire department was in the building, from 1900 to 2018.

Still, Lamb said, the building will need substantial interior work before it will be usable by the general public.

“If the building is to be reused, it has to be destroyed to the ground,” he said. “It needs all new windows, new electrical, plumbing and everything.”

That work, Lapointe said at a City Council meeting in July, could cost up to $5 million, a figure he said the city cannot afford, especially in the midst of a grueling budget year.

In light of the high renovation cost, Lapointe said financial stability will be an important factor the City Council will have to consider with proposals for the building. He said Tuesday’s discussion is a starting point for public input on the future of the building. No final decisions will be made for several months and the timeline has a final vote on potential proposals set for April 2025.

“People love the old fire station and some people think we should keep it at any cost,” Lapointe said. “And that’s when I say that we need to socialize the issue: we have to talk to resolve it.”

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