Community Corner
Hardhats at Kensington Public Safety HQ, Fire Engine in Driveway
The home of Kensington's police and fire departments began a 20-week rehab this week. Good-bye fire-friendly wood shingles, hello new concrete piers.
Work began this week on the $460,000 project to reface and upgrade the building that houses the Kensington Police and Fire Departments.
Workers from the Swinerton Corporation in San Francisco will spend the next 20 weeks replacing the wood shake shingles and installing new concrete piers under the section of the building that houses the Police Department.
For most local residents, the most visible sign of the work at the Public Safety Building at 217 Arlington Ave. may be the fire engine parked in the driveway while the work is being performed.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to Fire District Manager Brenda Navellier, the work will necessitate restricting access to the front door so a temporary public entrance will be built in one of the engine bays. At the same time, the exterior phone at the front door will be relocated, along with the Police Department mailbox.
The project, approved by the Kensington Fire Protection District, was originally authorized two years ago, but after plans were drawn and the work was put out to bid, the winning bidder went out of business, and the whole process had to be started again, according to Navellier.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The police side of the building really needed to be shored up and the wooden shingles, Navellier said, “are not the kind of exterior we would recommend.” The new material will be a concrete-based product that is fire proof. She pointed out that while the siding has been repainted, it is the original siding put on the building when it was built in 1970.
Police Chief and General Manager Greg Harman said the only disruption to the operation of his department will be the temporary relocation of one office. He pointed out that one benefit of the work will be the re-sloping of the station driveway.
“Every car we have has scratches from that driveway,” he said. The chief just received a new police cruiser and didn’t plan on driving into the driveway until the repairs were done.
The last time substantial renovations were made was in 1998-1999 three years after Kensington contracted out its fire department services to El Cerrito.
