CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The Fraternal Order of Police’s Cambridge-Dorchester chapter celebrated a long-awaited groundbreaking Tuesday on the future site of its new lodge, a project three decades in the making.
FOP Lodge 27 has not had a building of its own since 2010, when members stopped renting a space to save money for the project. The lodge’s 137 members now meet once a month at American Legion Post 91.
“To have this organization have its own building will make a huge statement to the officers that, hey, we're family, we'll come in together because we now have and I'm going to say it, we have a home,” said Thomas Hurley, the lodge’s president. “You know, this will be like the police officers' other home where they can come play darts, shoot pool, have a cookout.”
Hurley, who became president in 1994, said the idea began after he visited other lodges at state meetings. He started saving in 1996.
However, prices kept rising, he said, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The lodge bought the current site, which is almost 10 acres, in 2017 for $40,000 and paid in full.
FOP Lodge 27 received its first state grant in 2021, and Hurley said the grants now total several hundred thousand dollars.
However, the grants are time-sensitive. Hurley said about $250,000 will expire next year if it isn’t used.
The project is expected to cost about $625,000 in total. Hurley said the lodge has roughly 80% of that amount from state grants and fundraising. He said the lodge avoided taking out a mortgage so that a future leader could not lose the property.
Frank Hurley, a charter member who helped start the lodge in 1975, said he is happy that younger officers will have a place to spend time with their colleagues.
“I think it's good for the younger people to have a place to go and spend time after their duties and the fact is today's police officers are really working under stress, more than what I was, when I retired in 1998 and the job has changed so much,” Hurley said.
Members say the building will give officers a place to unwind. According to Thomas Hurley, Cambridge police have about 33 officers serving more than 14,000 residents.
“Just say you have a rough day at work and the guys want to go down to the lodge, we can come down to the lodge, get away from families, decompress,” said David Mills, a deputy with the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office. “That way, we’re not taking what we see at work home and then have to deal with family life on top of that, and it’s just going to be a good place to decompress about everything.”
A rendering of the future FOP Lodge 27 building in Cambridge. (Credit: Thomas Hurley).
Hurley said the site plan is almost approved by Dorchester County. He said he’d like to get permits within the next few weeks, after which the contractor can begin work.
Hurley said he hopes a building will be standing by spring, though it may not be finished inside.
Once complete, the lodge will host meetings, Christmas parties for police departments, family reunions and wedding receptions. Hurley said it could also be rented to other nonprofits.
Hurley said the lodge still needs help. Additional donations would go toward finishing the building, then toward furnishings such as tables, chairs, and office and kitchen equipment. He plans to return to Annapolis this fall to seek more state funding.
