Coming Next Year: Orono PD Getting New Digs Right Across The Street From Their Old Stomping Grounds

Just over 30 years ago, the town of Orono constructed a 20-thousand square foot Public Safety building. For the last 3 decades, the building has been home to both the Orono Police Department and the Orono Fire Department.

However, a lot has changed since 1994, and both public safety departments have expanded significantly. About 10 years ago, folks within the town and the departments started having conversations about possibly moving the police department out of that facility and into its own, dedicated space.

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Orono's Police Chief, Dan Merrill, says over the last few years, the town has conducted a few feasibility studies and determined that a bigger building for the PD was indeed warranted.

With the need established, officials then started to look into where this new space would be located. Would it be a new build, or was there an existing building that might fit their needs?

Turns out, they didn't have to search far to find one. In fact, all they needed to do was look out the front windows of their Main Street Public Safety building, and across the street.

In 2012. Camden National Bank acquired the old Bank of America building on Main Street in Orono. However, that branch closed several years later, and for about a decade, the building on the corner of Main and Pine has stood vacant.

Chief Merrill says the location, right in the center of town and across the street from the fire department, is ideal.

And after the town looked into it, and spoke to some contractors about modifying the existing bank to fit the needs of the PD, the decision was made to purchase the property.

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Now that that's been done, Merrill says the town and the Police Department have been working with Benchmark Construction, a construction management team out of Westbrook, to finalize plans. The total cost to renovate the space and add a carport to the back side will be about $3.5 million dollars.

Once completed, the new building will allow the current Orono Police staff, which consists of about 14 sworn officers and 2 administrators, to all be on the same level and centrally located. Currently, the staff is split into two separate areas of the old public safety building.

It will also provide the department with storage areas and staff lockers on the basement level of the new building, along with a dedicated place for their fleet of vehicles.

Chief Merrill says the hope is to complete the plans and start construction on the space this summer. He said it will take about a year to complete, if all goes according to plan, and the department aims to make the move across the street by next summer.