FARMINGTON — Farmington's Fire Station Building Committee has picked Silver Petrucelli + Associates to design the town's three fire station projects and estimate what they will cost, the figure voters will be asked to approve at a referendum the town is aiming to hold in 2027.
The committee voted on Oct. 6, at the end of a day of interviews with five firms and a closed-door session, to make Silver Petrucelli its "final candidate" and to authorize the town manager to sign a contract with it. Both motions passed on voice votes, and no one spoke against either, according to the meeting video. The town had not posted minutes of the meeting as of Sunday.
The other finalists were edmSTUDIO, Friar Architecture, Kaestle Boos Associates and Tecton Architects. The committee did not say in public why it chose Silver Petrucelli; it discussed the firms in executive session, under a state exemption that keeps a town's contract-award records confidential until the contract is signed or negotiations end. Under the process the committee approved Sept. 25, each firm was to bring its fee to the interview in a sealed envelope, and the price has not been made public.
What the town is buying
The contract covers the work before the referendum, not the whole project: early designs for new East Farms and Tunxis Hose stations and a renovated, expanded Farmington station, plus a construction cost estimate from an outside estimator.
"This selection is just for pre-referendum services, which is schematic design and cost estimating," Assistant Town Manager Kat Krajewski told the committee on Sept. 25. The town hopes to keep the same architect after a vote, she said, "but we also want to maintain our rights to change that if necessary." The referendum is targeted for spring or fall 2027.
The Town Council approved the plan in May, with a recommended budget of $30 million to $35 million.
A firm that has worked on these stations
Silver Petrucelli is not new to the project. Town records show the town hired it in 2023 to study the fire stations and estimate the cost of bringing them up to code, and brought it back in 2025 to update those costs and price the fire chiefs' space needs for the ad hoc committee that shaped the plan. The firm also designed the renovation of the 1928 building, the former high school that is now Town Hall, where the interviews were held.
Chris Nardi, a principal at the firm, will manage the fire station project. "We are familiar with your stations," he told the committee. "We're not coming in here and telling you that we understand everything about this project and we're taking nothing for granted."
What comes next
The town is to settle a contract with the firm, and the architect is to meet the full committee on Friday, Oct. 30, at 9 a.m. in the Town Hall third-floor training room. The committee plans to meet every other Friday after that.
The town survey that opened Oct. 9 asks residents to grade the fire stations. The firm that priced those stations in 2023 now has to produce the number voters will be asked to approve.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. Some things in Farmington take a referendum to replace. The things you keep at Farmington Storage just need Museum air. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's fire station committee long enough to know that the interesting number is always the one in the sealed envelope. He is on his second coffee. ☕
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