On Thursday, October 1st, the Township Committee held a Town Hall Meeting at the Mendham
Township Middle School regarding the town’s proposed new construction project.
Cornerstone Architectural Group presented a plan to update Mendham Township’ s Town Hall
building and build a new police station.
After responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) in April of this year, Cornerstone
Architectural Group was engaged to perform analytical and design services for Mendham
Township. The scope of the project pertained to addressing the current state of the Town
Hall building and the programmatic needs of the Police Department.
The Town Hall building is 97 years old, and currently houses the Municipal Offices, the
Library, and the town’s large meeting room. Cornerstone documented the building in a
Property Conditions Assessment Report which outlined the deficiencies and recommendations.
Major issues of concern identified in the report included: the roof, the building skin,
windows, doors, and the mechanical and electrical systems.
The architects detailed that the Town Hall roof is failing and needs a full replacement.
The plaster exterior walls are damaged – cracked, broken, spalling, and bulging. The
windows in the building are single glazed and uninsulated. The boiler is beyond its
anticipated life, and the first floor has no central air conditioning. The building
displays red flags for water infiltration while exhibiting difficulty maintaining
consistent temperatures and comfort levels inside the building. When combined with organic
material such as mineral fiber ceiling tiles, paper (library), gypsum board, wood, etc.,
this creates concern for mold growth. In addition to that liability, the town hall
building is a public building and does not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Standards.
The presentation also included a proposal to replace the roof and windows and reskin the
building. The architects stressed the need to bring the building up to accessibility
standards for public access by installing a new stair tower. This would allow for a 700 sq
ft expansion of the library, bring the entirety of the second floor into accessible
compliance, and satisfy the building code requirements while opening up access to
mechanical spaces for replacement of equipment. In addition to the stair tower, ADA
Compliance would be addressed by installing a new elevator and accounting for accessible
toilet rooms, ramped transitions between level changes, accessible pantries, countertops,
work counters, door sizes, approaches, and clearances. Additionally, this proposal
includes an installation of new infrastructure for plumbing, fire, and mechanical and
electrical systems.
After discussing the proposed improvements to the Town Hall building, the architects
turned the public’s attention to the Mendham Township Police Station in Brookside. The
Police Department currently occupies a converted 1960’s split level residence. The
converted house has narrow hallways and residential bathrooms. The building does not have
a proper holding room. The building is in a floodplain - the evidence room and reception
area have both taken on water. In addition to the 1,900 sq ft residence that the police
occupy, our officers also operate out of two trailers, and use the Emergency Services
Building’s meeting room as a locker room. The Police Department is looking for basic
amenities for effective law enforcement. For additional information on the current state
of the Mendham Township Police Station, please view the linked video.
The architects and our Township engineer have studied the existing police facilities. They
looked at utilizing adaptive reuse by housing the police within the existing Town Hall
Building. There were also discussions regarding renovating, reconfiguring, and/or
reconstructing the current police facility. After assessing the priorities of the public
and Township Committee, the final proposal from Cornerstone Architects was a plan that was
the most cost-effective and would preserve the historic fabric of the neighborhood by
upgrading and expanding the municipal offices, library, and the large meeting room within
the existing Town Hall building and constructing a new police facility in the location of
the existing residential structure adjacent to Town Hall and the Fire Department.
The architects concluded their presentation by stating that a new police facility would be
residential in scale, character, and appearance, and would include aesthetics inherent to
the Brookside Historic District. The structure would be set back approximately the same
distance from the road as the current residential unit and would maintain vehicular access
predominantly from Cherry Lane through the parking lot. The proposal illustrated minimal
parking adjacent to the building and mentioned utilizing the large municipal parking lot
for the police fleet and personal vehicles.
Over the next few days, additional documentation and videos about this proposal will be
posted to the Township’s website. I encourage you to review the information and provide
feedback.
Have a good weekend.
Sarah Neibart
Mayor, Mendham Township
Link to Mendham Township Police Station
Video<https://www.facebook.com/TownshipofMendham/videos/273937906986612&…