City of Methuen Master Plan

Public Facilities and Services
• reorganize the existing schools so that there is a city-wide K- Grade 1 accommodated
somewhere (if the option of clustering just Kindergartners is chosen, this has the advantage
of being low cost because there are far fewer requirements, e.g. no need for a library, gym or
auditorium and only need small cafeteria), freeing up the space taken up for these grades for
Grades 2 - 8 at each of the four existing schools
• re-introduce a middle school into the system taking grades 6-8 out of the four existing
schools and building a new school elsewhere or
• add portable classrooms on the sites of the existing schools (not all sites have the capacity to
accommodate portables)
Increasing Enrollments Spill Over Effects. If there are additional students to accommodate in the future this
will also mean that there will be additional pressure to accommodate preschoolers, before and after
school programs (e.g. Pleasant Valley School) and the Methuen Arlington Neighborhood Inc.
homework center.
Adult Education. Given the waiting lists at the existing adult learning sites and the projected increase in
low income and ethnically diverse populations, there is a need for additional adult education services
including high school equivalence, English as a Second Language, computer literacy and other basic skill
acquisition courses. The existing facility at the former Currier School will need computers and
additional classroom space in the near future. Appropriate additional locations may need to be
identified.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Fire Department
Methuen’s Fire Department is housed in four stations, the Central Station and headquarters at Lowell
and Pelham Streets (Five Corners), one in the North End at Howe and Hampstead Streets, one in the
East End at East and Swan Streets, and one in the West End on North Lowell Street at Bean Street.
The locations of the stations provide response times of under seven minutes to any part of the City.
While three to five minute response times are considered ideal, seven minutes as a maximum is an
accepted standard by the National Fire Protection Association.
The Fire Department has only paid personnel and does not include volunteer fire fighters. Methuen’s
Fire Department staff consists of ninety-seven people. There are seventy-two fire fighters, sixteen
Lieutenants, four deputy commanders, two captains, one assistant chief, one chief and one full-time and
one part-time administrative aide. All but six of these personnel are trained for emergency medical
treatment (EMT). The department operates on four daily round-the-clock shifts, each directed by a
deputy commander.
Major equipment of the Fire Department consists of seven engine trucks equipped as pumpers, one
ladder truck, a rescue truck, a brush fire vehicle, a boat truck and boat, five automobiles, and three
ambulances. Some of the engine trucks are more than 20 years old. The rescue truck is also more than
20 years old. All equipment gets very frequent use. There were 6,405 calls in 2005. 3,512 were
emergency medical service calls and 2,893 were engine company calls. Emergency medical service calls
are increasing because of the nursing homes in Methuen, an increasing number of vehicle accidents, and
an increasing elderly population in the City.
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