ROCKLAND — A buyer has come forward with intent to purchase the current Police Station condo at 1 Park Drive. Details are still to be publicized, however that buyer intends to repurpose the basement level condo into a parking garage, according to Rockland Police Chief Tim Carroll, thus relieving the question of what new group of people would be inheriting the black mold that has manifested within Police Plaza.

The 22-member staff continues to work from the 8,000 square foot condo at 1 Park Drive, though according to City Manager Tom Luttrell, there is talk internally of temporarily relocating staff, due to health and safety concerns, while citizens and the City work toward a more permanent location.

“Obviously, with office space and people living in there, we have heat,” said Carroll. “The heat from the inside, the cold damp from the outside….we have the best source for the mold to start growing. And this is the height season for the mold to start growing.”

Other agencies related to law enforcement want to use the facility, he said. Recently, State Police used the conference room for a meeting with the District Attorney'ss Office and other official entities. Partial Sheetrock walls were visible from previous remediation. The carpets had been removed.

“It’s embarrassing, honestly, to have a public facility looking like this,” said Carroll.

On the night of the City’s first community meeting at City Hall to give information and receive public input, Dec. 17, 2025, Carroll had just finished working in his own office. Above him, Park Street Grille was holding a Christmas party, with a band.

“We could hear it well,” said Carroll.

Detained people, witnesses and victims taken to the station for interviews must walk into the building under the eyes of restaurant patrons, a privacy concern not lost on Carroll. The noise of the upstairs world drifts down into the interview rooms. The story is retold of years ago when a festival was occurring outside. Detectives inside were conducting an interview related to a murder, all to the tune of Christmas music from that outside party.

Last year, $40,000 was poured into patchwork for the condo. More than a million dollars is required just to make the condo water tight. And, as Luttrell told the small audience, attempting to raise the Condo Association fees from approximately $18,000 per year to a capital assessment of $100,000 - $200,00 per year for the PD, the Park Street Grille, and the Lobster Festival Association (which took over the Lighthouse Museum and is using the space for unheated storage), would still take years to accumulate enough money to fix the building.

“And the building would just keep getting sicker and sicker,” said Luttrell. “If we were assessed every year for just the Capital Fund to be in that building, we could borrow $5 million cheaper, and pay debt service back and actually own a building in the long run.”

Instead of continuing on, in the offices of the old Courier Gazette, retrofitted to fit police in there.

“It’s really not the best situation and convenient for where we are today in policing,” said Luttrell.

But where to go?

-One resident suggested taking over the Masonic Building and the building behind it.

-The owner of the former MDOT office site on Rankin Street, which has the Marine Patrol maintenance facility behind it, offered that location as a rent now, own in 20 years. The building is less than 6,000 sq feet, and the 8,000 sq ft at 1 Park Drive is already inadequate for modern police work, according to Carroll. Forcing police work into office buildings doesn’t work either. The PD building needs training rooms; interview rooms; conference rooms; locker rooms; exercise space; evidence rooms that comply with Criminal Justice standards (which RPD currently does not meet); better security, including front entrance security; and space for desks and computers. Officers can share cruisers, according to Carroll. The laptops in those cruisers are good for small needs, but five or six page reports require a desk and a computer. Sergeants and detectives have added desk work. All must have their own spaces.

The Sierra Peaks location previously considered would have been adequate, according to Carroll.

-One resident inquired about the third floor of the Flanagan Center, while another suggested the “hub and spoke” concept where there’s one central office location and several small offices around town for patrol officers to stop into for their desk work.

Someone asked if Luttrell and Carroll had been provided with the listings of all commercial space in Rockland. Yes, that listing was provided approximately six months ago. And when asked about the Steel-Pro building, Luttrell said no, the City wants to avoid taking up waterfront property, which is taxable.

-If not creating a Rockland Police and Rec Department, as one person hoped for, desires were expressed of keeping the station on Downtown Main Street, where patrol officers would to the Flanagan Center and interacted with youth. Community is key right now, said the person, and volunteers should be energized into community watch, allowing patrol officers to forego their “not productive” operation of driving around the city in favor of gaining the youth’s trust and mentoring them away from criminal behavior.

-And yet another person implored the Rockland Police Department to fund-raise.

“Some communities are here to grow,” said the person. “Some aren’t. And I think Rockland is here to grow.”

RPD is well respected, said the resident, citing the recent good outcome in the Ocean State Job Lots’ parking lot incident.

In terms of fundraising, he said: “You guys do something first, I think you are going to see the community jump [with donations].”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com

See previous Pen Bay Pilot articles:

Mold report adds urgency to relocating Police Dept.; City plans public meetings to educate, invite new ideas

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UPDATE: Previous $5 million estimate for proposed Rockland police station now reduced to $3 million

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Combined Public Safety Building idea tabled, Rockland continues search for new property

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UPDATE: Rockland to hear proposal to construct new fire and police building; resident tells City to stop 'Champagne Diet' spending