As the holiday season approaches, the Town is pleased to announce significant progress on the Public Safety Building at Town Hall renovation project and outline the timeline for departments returning to the building.
Town Hall is expected to reopen to the public during the week of Jan. 12, 2026. In preparation, Town Hall departments will begin moving back into the building one at a time over the coming month as construction nears completion. The building itself is nearly substantially complete, with inspections underway and remaining finish work scheduled through December. DPW Director Jon Scenna reports construction at nearly 98% complete, with minor issues left to resolve and complete the building’s interior.
“We are pleased with the quality of Commodore’s work on this project and their timely completion. We are equally very grateful for the work of our Project Managers, PMA Consulting, for guiding our Town through a very complicated project with several layers of complexity and challenges,” Scenna said.
Town Administrator Rob Dolan follow up by stating, “We are delighted to have Town departments return back to their offices in the coming month.”
Dolan added, “Department employees have been away from Town Hall and spread over the community in other buildings for nearly two years. While we did function and serve residents, the ability to come back together, under one roof, and work as a cohesive unit is highly anticipated. It’s a great way to start the new year of 2026.”
Public meetings are anticipated to resume at Town Hall in the first week of February. This includes meetings that can be televised and recorded live from the new Maney Conference Room.
“The room is set up very similar to the Merritt Center with state of the art recording and audio, visual equipment.” Scenna said.
Scenna also stated that Eric Hamlin, director of Lynnfield Media Studios, and his team have been involved with every detail surrounding technology in the new conference room and that “I’m certain departments and committees will be pleased with its capabilities.”
The Maney Conference Room is one of four new meeting areas in Town Hall, all of which is now ADA accessible, and which has customer service counters at each public facing and serving Department.
Additional departments at the Town Hall Building Complex are also progressing toward reopening:
- Police Department: Following the Town Hall return, the Police Department is expected to move back into its facility throughout February. A highlight of this transition will be the reactivation of the state-of-the-art dispatch office, including the transfer of dispatch and State 911 systems back to the new building. The facility also has prisoner booking and detaining areas to code; an upgraded radio communication system; proper storage area for police equipment; and Police staff also look forward to their upgraded locker, bathroom and roll call areas. “We are excited to move into the new facility and appreciate the support of the community,” said Police Chief Nick Secatore. “The Town of Lynnfield has always been good to the public safety officials. Our new building is an improvement in all areas over the old one. Some improved areas are the lobby with seating and public restrooms, investigative area, evidence area, modern detention and processing and enough office space for the officers. There will be internal and operational changes to the department due to the new spaces. The services to the public will not change.”
Secatore added, “The project represents years of work and planning. The capital needs committee and many residents like Joe Connell were instrumental to getting it started. It is a great addition to the community.”
Secatore has also personally managed all IT upgrades and many of the public safety radio, dispatch, and control systems designs and installations.
“Chief Secatore has been invaluable to the project team, both in terms of police operations and information technology upgrades, of which there were several,” Dolan said.
- Fire Department: The Fire Department will begin using the fire substation for on-call crews and daytime staffing as needed. Full occupancy is expected later this winter. “The ability to utilize the newly renovated substation will allow the fire department to continue to have fire and EMS coverage across the 10 square miles of Lynnfield. The substation allows quicker response times to those neighborhoods near the North Reading and Middleton town lines,” said Fire Chief Glenn Davis.
Looking ahead, final site paving and landscaping at Town Hall are scheduled for April as weather conditions improve. Restoration work at the Senior Center and the Historic House will take place during March and April.
To celebrate the completion of these major projects, the Town will host a community open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony this spring, welcoming residents, department staff, and their families.
“Similar to the new Fire Headquarters, we look forward to celebrating with and opening the doors of these new facilities to our community for a firsthand look at their investment in Public Safety and their Town,” Dolan said.
Residents are encouraged to check the Town’s official websites for up-to-date information on department locations and contact details throughout this transition period. There will be a few days where Departments will not be accessible to the public for services as they transition.
“We thank you in advance for your cooperation during the upcoming month,” Dolan.
