By Janet Stoica

Camp Gleason 

According to interim Auburn town manager Dori Vecchio’s latest report, the town, with the help of the DPW Facilities Division, continues to rehabilitate the former Camp Gleason Building once owned by United States Steel as a satellite recreational and meeting site. The rehabilitation will provide the Town with more public meeting space. The building will be equipped with ACTV and broadcast capabilities allowing for live streamed and televised coverage for any scheduled public meeting.

Camp Gleason was created in 1942 by United States Steel Corporation (USSC) for their employees’ recreational enjoyment. Activities included swimming lessons, picnicking, and general outdoor enjoyment. USSC eventually donated the land to Auburn in 1967. A town meeting vote accepted the deed from USSC conveying land and water rights and all buildings and structures located in the vicinity of Eddy Pond and Moss Reservoir. In 2000 Camp Gleason shut down their swimming program due to water pollution. Combined with ADA accessibility issues, the camp grew out of use.  The DPW has been working to remove a portion of the building hanging over Eddy Pond (determined to be structurally deficient) and added a frost wall and knee wall to seal it off. The roof was re-aligned and re-shingled, and the entire building was re-sided. To make up for the deconstructed overhang there was a balcony added that overlooks Eddy Pond.  

Town Manager Search

The new town manager search includes three final candidates: Angeline Lopes Ellison, Marc Stranger, and Dori Vecchio.

New Fire Station Funding

At the May 6 annual town meeting, voters overwhelmingly approved the funding plan for the new fire station. On May 20, full project approval was to be voted on via a debt exclusion vote to design, construct, equip, and furnish a new fire headquarters. The town has proposed replacing Station 2 with a modern, 30,400 square foot fire headquarters located at 10 Prospect Street. The current headquarters on Auburn Street will remain operational as the new Station 2. All administrative functions, fleet maintenance, and the town’s emergency operations center would move to the new headquarters on Prospect Street. The current station on West Street will be returned to the School Department for their use. The goal of the committee is to present a project to the voters that is responsible. A large part of that responsibility is cost and another large part is ensuring the station is constructed with durable materials that require as little maintenance as possible to reduce future costs and to provide the town and department with a building that will last another 60 plus years.