City of Methuen Master Plan

Public Facilities and Services
The Police Department uses the two tier parking lot in the rear of the Quinn Building to accommodate
all of its personal vehicles with the lower tier for cruiser parking to keep them out of the elements. A
sally port is needed to bring prisoners in and out safely instead of through the upper booking area.
Additionally the Department does not have any interview or interrogations rooms, has no waiting room,
and as mentioned, has no space available to hold larger meetings. There have been attempts to use the
Nevins Library for various meetings however, there is a heavy usage at the library and the Department
has had difficulty obtaining a room during business hours. At the present time members of the public
must wait in the front foyer area. There is no heat or air-conditioning and the area is unsuitable as a
waiting area.
In summary, the top priority for the Police Department is a new facility that would accommodate a
department of the size needed by the City of Methuen. In Fiscal 2006 $7,285,317 was expended on the
Police Department and its services. 27
OTHER MUNICIPAL FACILITIES
NEVINS MEMORIAL LIBRARY
The Nevins Memorial Library is centrally located at 305 Broadway in a beautiful historic building. The
library is an example of Romanesque Revival architecture and has been cited as “possibly one of the
best-preserved examples of late-Victorian library architecture in this country.” 28 It is on the National
Register of Historic Places and in the Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District. The building, the books
and an endowment to run the library were donated by the Nevins Family as a gift to the Town in the
late 1800s. Since then the library is one of 66 libraries statewide, which is run as a private non-profit,
that is, through a public-private partnership between the City and the Library Trustees who manage the
Trust.
The Nevins Library runs on a diversified funding model with an overall budget of about $1.2 million per
year. Support from the municipality is a single-line item in the City budget (FY06 appropriation was
$800,000), which covers all utilities, some building maintenance, some materials expenditures, network
member fees, office supplies and approximately 75% of staff salaries and benefits. Additional revenue
for library operations comes from the State Aid to Public Libraries program, from library fines and fees,
grants and gifts, and from the trust fund. Methuen residents have free access to the library, although it
is not municipally owned and controlled, and the city can and does appropriate funds for its
maintenance and enhancement.
The library completed a $7 million addition and renovation project in 2002. In order to most efficiently
raise funds for the library expansion the library building was leased to the City for a period of 25 years
or until the bond is paid off. A new public entity -- the Methuen Board of Library Commissioners
(made up of the Library Trustees) -- was established to oversee the construction and other building
matters.
The renovations and new addition resulted in an additional 22,000 square feet to the original building
(for a total of close to 40,000 square feet) including over 190 seats, 4 meeting rooms, 39 public
27 From Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services, 2006 figures.
28 from The Nevins Memorial Library, Plan for Services, Facilities and Resources: 2007 – 2011, p.10.
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