Members of several town agencies on July 17 toured a vacant office building at 191 South Main Street (Route 25) that the Board of Selectmen is proposing be converted and expanded to serve as a police station for the 45-member Newtown Police Department.

Those attending broke into small groups and casually toured the structure, which formerly served as office space for The Taunton Press.

The selectmen have recommended that the town buy the 7.35-acre site, plus the 22,318-gross-square-foot single-story structure at 191 South Main Street, and also buy an abutting 4.39-acre site at 61 Pecks Lane, which holds a vacant house.

The properties are located in an M-1 (Industrial) zone. The 191 South Main Street property is on the northern corner of South Main Street and Ethan Allen Road. The site is 2.7 miles south of the existing police station at 3 Main Street.

The 191 South Main Street site was chosen from among four locations under consideration for a new police station. The other locations are the site of Cochran House on Mile Hill Road South at Fairfield Hills; town property on the south side of Wasserman Way, west of Wasserman Way's intersection with Nunnawauak Road at Fairfield Hills, and the existing police station site at 3 Main Street site, coupled with the adjacent 1 Main Street property.

Participating in the tour of 191 South Main were the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, Legislative Council, Police Commission, and Sustainable Energy Commission, among others.

Police Chief James Viadero greeted people as they entered the building through the front entrance, urging them to take a walk through the structure to gain a sense of the building's design.

The chief said that the building is the place where police officials want to create a police station for the town. Captain Christopher Vanghele and Lieutenant David Kullgren answered questions posed by the visitors. Several people walking through the building said the structure seemed much larger indoors than it appeared from outside.

It is expected that voters at the November 6 general election will act on a referendum question concerning public spending for converting the vacant office building into a police station.