Modular Project: Boston Police Department

Few outside of the local Boston area are familiar with a small island just off the coast called Moon Island (aka: Half Moon Island) which is situated just south of Boston and is connected to the coast at Squantum, Massachusetts with a two lane 4,175 foot long causeway.

Moon Island is 44.5 acres with views of Quincy, Long, Hangman, Peddocks Islands, and Downtown Boston. Quincy Bay, Dorchester Bay, and Squantum Channel also provide breathtaking views from the island.

Moon Island’s Boston Police Department Firing Range is where department officers come to qualify twice a year, and surrounding local law enforcement also come for shooting and tactical training. Those residents seeking a pistol permit in Boston and Brookline also take a shooting exam at the Firing Range using a 38 revolver.

The everyday hustle and bustle on the island includes regular intervals of officers showing up to the Firing Range, unloading their weapons in the designated area, then entering the newly built two-story administrative building to begin with some classroom instruction.

Following the classroom training, the officers proceed to either the pistol or rifle shooting range, located right behind the new building. Shooting practice commences for a designated period of time, which is primarily determined by the number of rounds that need to be shot. Upon completion of shooting practice the officers meticulously remove the brass casings from the range, and return to the administrative building to clean their weapons and review the results of their shooting.

Upon completion of their successful training exercise, the officers bid farewell to the staff at the Firing Range, and return to their duties and responsibilities protecting the citizens of the City of Boston and the surrounding areas. The Firing Range on Moon Island plays a critical role in maintaining the readiness of a police force for what they face each day.

Before the beautiful new two-story building was installed at the Boston Police Department Firing Range on Moon Island, there was a small “shack” in which the training personnel and the officers coming to train would stand shoulder to shoulder during instruction and weapons cleaning, bumping elbows. When the new building sections began arriving to the facility, that all changed for good.

Built in sections off-site at a modular building factory, the new 3,600 square foot administrative building began taking shape well before it arrived on Moon Island. The structural steel for each “module”, or section, was welded together with perfection, followed by pouring of the concrete floors. Once the modules were structurally completed, they were put together at the manufacturing facility, in New Holland, Pennsylvania, the same way the building would be fitted together once it reached Moon Island. The Pennsylvania modular building factory, worked to finish out the rest of the building at the same time the site contractor excavated and poured the foundation at the job-site.

As you enter the first floor of the building there is a registration and open office area; it also has men’s and women’s restrooms, a large classroom for instruction, an armory, a storage room, an IT room, a private office, and a kitchen. Upstairs there are men’s and women’s locker rooms with showers and toilets, a fitness room, a state-of-the-art control room, and a private office.

The building’s use is practical in nature, but required some significant upgrades to fulfill its purpose as the administrative building at the Firing Range. The rear of the building was clad with specialty panels designed to absorb and diminish the sound of gun fire, because of its proximity to the range. The large custom windows that supply a significant amount of natural light throughout the building were designed to be bullet resistant. Other upgrades included a secure armory, security combination locks on doors throughout the building, and highly technical HVAC and mechanical systems.