GLENVILLE — After years of discussions and delays, Glenville finally appears to be heading towards a new municipal center.
Town lawmakers last week authorized the creation of bid documents for the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility on a 4-acre campus at 24 Glenridge Road that once housed the town’s history center. The property is located just east of the current municipal center, directly behind the Glenville library branch.
“This only authorizes me to go forward in starting the documents,” said Supervisor Chris Koetzle, who noted a final decision on whether to move forward with the project won’t be made until bids are returned and bonding can be secured — a process that is expected to take several months.
Still, the creation of bid documents marks a significant step toward the construction of a new municipal center that will house the town’s government, court and police operations following years of delay.
The move comes just weeks after town board members reviewed a pair of proposals to address space constraints at the current 16,500-square-foot facility that has long been too small to house town operations and is in need of extensive upgrades, particularly on the police department side.
Female officers with the Glenville Police Department currently do not have a proper locker room, and the department is in need of additional evidence storage space — two things that have prevented the department from receiving state accreditation for years.
Lawmakers considered renovating the existing building, though the estimated $17 million project would have required temporarily relocating town services during construction and would have resulted in a two-story 32,000-square-foot building with little room to accommodate future expansion at the 2-acre site.
Instead, town board members favored a plan to construct a new single-story facility for an estimated $14 million. The project would result in a smaller but more efficient 22,000-square-foot building, with room for future growth. The project, however, requires extensive site preparations, including grading and the construction of a driveway.
If lawmakers do go forward with the proposal, the current municipal building at 18 Glenridge Road would be demolished and the site would be sold for future development.
Environmental Design Partnership and C2 Design Group will be tasked with drafting the documents. The companies completed preliminary engineering and architectural designs for the proposal, respectively. Several other environmental studies are also expected to be completed in the coming months.
Upgrading the town’s aging municipal center has long been a priority for Koetzle, who tasked town board members with deciding the future of the project during his State of the Town address earlier this year.
The project has been delayed over the years for a number of reasons, including the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Lawmakers also delayed the project in hopes of obtaining a $1.5 million state grant. The grant was awarded in 2017, however, those funds were only made available earlier this month, following a seven-year wait.
At one point, the town and village of Scotia explored a joint municipal center, though those plans never materialized.
Scotia residents ultimately approved a $13.8 million municipal facilities project in 2022 that includes the construction of a new firehouse and renovating the existing Village Hall building at the corner of North Ten Broeck Street and Mohawk Avenue.