SALEM, N.H. — More than 60 years after the town’s standalone police station opened its doors on Veterans Memorial Parkway, town officials and police broke ground Thursday afternoon at the historic site that will soon house the department’s new station.
With their hard hats on, town councilors, police and town officials lifted shovels full of dirt from a mound in front of what used to be the department’s single-story building, built in 1964 and demolished over the last few weeks.
“This building is for you (Salem Police Department). It’s more than brick and mortar, it’s a message that we hear you, we value you and we recognize the work you do every day,” said Town Manager Joe Devine. “Today we grow, today we move forward and today we break ground.”
Since 2004, town staff has been pushing to build a new police station, citing concerns over interior and exterior damage, space limitations and Salem’s population growth. Three times, the project was put on the town warrant, and three times it overwhelmingly failed, Devine said.
“Going at it a fourth time, we knew it was important to put a good team together and thankfully the town supported us,” Police Chief Joel Dolan said. “We took the feedback about how and why each project didn’t pass and we incorporated that feedback into our philosophy when designing and rolling it out to the public.”
At Town Meeting in March 2024, the nearly $40 million project received a 78% majority, Devine said.
“When you look at our infrastructure and what we’ve been doing in town, the school (district) has had a great run,” Devine said. “But we haven’t had a new building since the Senior Center, which is 22 years old.”
Looking ahead, developers are expected to start digging the foundation early next week with an opening date slated for the summer of 2026.
“It really is exciting,” Dolan said. “Even seeing the temporary place come together, seeing that start to form. … I imagine seeing this place start to come together is gonna be really exciting for the town and the staff to see something new on this site.”
The new two-story police station will include technological and electrical modernization and larger, designated spaces for interviews, holding cells, bookings and specialized units, such as investigations. It’s being designed with expansion in mind as the department and the town continue to grow over the next 50 to 60 years.
“This project is a testament to what can be accomplished when a community comes together,” Dolan said.