PSB Design

When Capital Projects was in front of the City Council for funding for the Construction Manager, the Council asked City Staff to advance Parcels A and C with the Public Safety Building. Together with Economic Development we've been in a broader community process to talk about the Public Safety Building and what community members want to see on the site. Since December we've got a lot of feedback about the PSB, uses that should be on the site, and how much development people would like to see. The Schematic Design entry is out of date but useful to understand the history of the project. This is what we know about the PSB project and what we will take to the design team when they mobilize after the community process:

• The parking garage is too expensive and doesn't serve well as a buffer for 84 Washington Street
• People are interested in a taller PSB with a smaller footprint
• It's still in development where a community room should be located - there is a need in the neighborhood and throughout Somerville for this type of space. From a survey at the February community meeting, over half of respondents are comfortable using a community room in the PSB but want design features like a separate entrance.
• Residents have expressed concerns of siren noise, more information on this is here but siting the PSB should take entering and exiting vehicles into consideration to avoid impacts.
• The site design should consider the existing trees, there is more on that here. PSUF identified 4 "high preservation value" trees.