RDK Engineers Blog

When reviewing the existing conditions of the historic Cambridge Police Station in preparation for a planned renovation, RDK Engineers Project Manager David Ellowitz got a sense of deja vu. 

Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc, the Boston architecture firm who is leading the renovation, shared the original 1930s building plans, and upon review Ellowitz saw a familiar name.  It turns out that RDK Engineers had previously worked on the exact same building back in 1932, a discovery that left Ellowitz both surprised and elated.

In 1932, Aldous Huxley’s classic Brave New World was first published; the Lindbergh baby kidnapping captivated the country; prohibition was still in effect; Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover in the presidential election; and RDK teamed with Putnam and Cox Architects for a new Cambridge Police Headquarters.  While much has changed since then, RDK Engineers is still in existence and in a welcome twist of fate is back at work on the same building. 

Nearly 80 years after completing work on the historic station, RDK is part of the project team that will help renovate the building into a facility that will continue to serve the City of Cambridge.  The station, located at 5 Western Avenue, closed in 2008 when the police department moved into a new, updated facility at 125 Sixth Street in East Cambridge.

RDK Engineers, which has been in continuous operation since first opening in 1897, is an engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, teldata, and fire protection engineering services.  The company has a staff of more than 190 multi-disciplined engineers and administrative professionals located in Andover, Amherst, and Boston, MA, as well as Durham and Charlotte, N.C.

Back in 1932, RDK, then known as the Richard D. Kimball Company, performed Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing services for the original building.  RDK will now provide HVAC, Plumbing, and Fire Protection engineering services for the renovation. 

The renovated facility, with an estimated construction cost of $12.8 million, is scheduled to be occupied in 2013.  The building's interior will be gutted for renovation, but the exterior will not be altered due to building's historic status, and the renovated building is working toward an energy efficient LEED-Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. 

Moving into the renovated facility will be three organizations that greatly serve the Cambridge community.  The Cambridge Housing Authority, established in 1935, provides more than 5,000 families, elders, and disabled individuals with affordable apartments and rental assistance.  It will occupy approximately half the building.  The two other tenants are the Community Learning Center, which provides Cambridge adults with education opportunities including computer training, ESOL, GED and other employment skills, and the Multi-Service Center, which provides housing search and support for homeless and near-homeless individuals and families.

As RDK Engineers has continued to grow and evolve over the decades, it is a testament to RDK's reputation as a leading MEP firm that the company continues to work on projects of this magnitude.  The sense of history is of great importance to the project team as they help prepare the station for its second life.

“To be part of a company that has been in business long enough to provide innovative engineering design services TWICE on an 80-year-old building is incredible,” said Ellowitz.