Hampden Select Board Certifies Fire Station Architect, Greenlights National Grid Upgrade

Select Board · Meeting of January 20, 2026

Hampden Select Board certifies fire station architect and approves National Grid underground cable upgrade for two residential streets. The board unanimously certified Scaccia Associates — selected over one competing firm, Kayla and Beck — as the preferred architectural firm for the fire station renovation and expansion project, with contract negotiations to follow involving the town administrator and town counsel. The board emphasized the hiring does not lock the town into the previously presented roughly 12,500-square-foot design, as changes next door at the Old Town Hall may open new options.

The board also unanimously granted a National Grid petition to install new underground conduit on Bayberry Road and Colony Drive via horizontal directional drilling, with residents pressing for at least 10 business days' written notice and electronic alerts ahead of any planned cutover outage. A reserve police officer, Chad Martowski of Wilbraham, was conditionally approved, and the board appointed Select Board member Don Davenport to the newly chartered Old Town Hall Future Committee.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of January 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.