Townspeople to vote this month

By Bob Bumcrot
At its March 15 meeting, members of the Norfolk Lions Club Volunteer Ambulance warmly endorsed the proposed design by architect Bob Lamson of the Emergency Services Building (ESB), anticipated to be placed on the vacant lot at the corner of Shepard Road and Greenwoods Road West (Route 44). The ESB Committee and Lamson were accorded separate rounds of applause.
Members did, however, have a number of concerns and suggestions regarding the alignment of the ambulance bay and placement of driveways. There were also questions about possible formation of ice dams in roof valleys. Both Lamson and the committee promised to consider the observations expressed. “We have taken it this far, but the final design is totally up to [the members],” said ESB committee member and Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) representative Mark Burke.
“I wanted to design a building that reflected Norfolk’s architectural traditions,” said Lamson. The tower, windows and roof shown in the design are indeed reminiscent of such Norfolk landmarks as the Royal Arcanum and Greenwoods Theatre, as well as some features of the large homes designed by Alfredo Guido Taylor.
The building will have 3,500 square feet on the first floor and 500 square feet on the mezzanine. In addition to housing the ambulance, the building will include the office of the resident state trooper. Detailed drawings, still subject to change, may be seen on the Web site norfolkambulance.com.
At an earlier meeting of the committee, Chairman Ted Veling announced that a public hearing will be held on the proposed building, probably in mid-April. The date and time of the hearing will be announced after the committee has had a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen and P&Z, perhaps on April 3. A special town meeting will be held approximately two weeks later, to vote on funding for the project.