Scotch Plains officials have unveiled a revised plan for a new emergency services building on township-owned property along Plainfield Avenue, with a price tag of up to $49.5 million. The facility would bring police, fire and EMS operations, the Office of Emergency Management, the Volunteer Rescue Squad and municipal court under a single roof, replacing aging buildings that officials say have outlived their usefulness.
According to Patch, the existing emergency services facilities are outdated and sit in a flood hazard area, a problem Mayor Josh Losardo has pointed to directly. Moving operations to higher ground on Plainfield Avenue, officials say, would help ensure emergency response stays available during severe weather. The current firehouse on Senger Place was originally designed as a Department of Public Works building and lacks the space and layout today's fire department needs, according to TAPinto.
A Smaller, Cheaper Design Than 2023
The latest design calls for approximately 49,760 square feet, nearly 20,000 square feet smaller than the roughly 69,900-square-foot concept floated in 2023, the station's report notes. That shrinkage comes with a lower price: the proposed cost has dropped by $17.5 million from the earlier $67 million estimate, per the same account. Losardo has framed the slimmed-down approach as the product of years of refinement rather than a rushed decision, saying, “This has been a deliberate process, not a decision made overnight.”
Scotch Plains has been discussing a new emergency services facility since 2018, per TAPinto, and last year the township took a concrete step toward making the project more palatable to neighbors. The township purchased 2450 Plainfield Avenue in 2025, land next to the original project site, allowing the building to be pushed farther from nearby homes and paired with added landscaping. Township officials amended the redevelopment plan that same year to add buffers intended to reduce visual, lighting and noise impacts on residents, according to TAPinto.
Financing Plan Leans on Property Sales and Grants
The township intends to pay for construction using proceeds from property sales and redevelopment, available grants and remaining bond funds, the Patch report states. Relocating municipal and emergency services would also free up the current township-owned properties, which generate no tax revenue today, for redevelopment that officials hope will create new economic activity and revenue. The new facility is also expected to reduce maintenance and repair costs tied to Scotch Plains's aging municipal buildings, per TAPinto.
That downtown redevelopment ambition is not new. The Township Council adopted its first-ever Downtown Redevelopment Plan for township-owned properties in 2021, following roughly 35 public meetings and community surveys conducted between 2017 and 2021, Patch reports in its coverage of the township's broader overhaul. After evaluating proposals from 11 redevelopers through a public Request for Qualifications process in 2022, the township selected Woodmont Properties in 2023. Deputy Mayor Matt Adams has pointed to revitalization efforts in Morristown, Cranford, Red Bank and Metuchen as models for what Scotch Plains could achieve.
Woodmont was designated the conditional redeveloper for more than nine acres in the downtown in June 2023, according to Real Estate NJ. That plan envisions a mix of retail, restaurants, apartments, a new combined library and town hall, public parking and public plazas, the outlet reported at the time.
Bond Vote and Public Session Ahead
Scotch Plains plans to introduce a bond ordinance on Tuesday, with a public hearing and possible final adoption set for Dec. 15, according to the Patch report. Officials have emphasized that authorizing the financing would not automatically require the township to spend the entire authorized amount, and TAPinto notes that any construction contract would only be awarded after a competitive bidding process establishes the project's final cost.
Residents will get a chance to weigh in directly at a public information session scheduled for Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, where township officials plan to walk through the building and financing strategy and take questions. Losardo has encouraged residents to participate, ask questions and review the project details, saying the township aims to balance reliable public safety services, responsible financial planning and the downtown's future.
