Construction on a long-awaited new firehouse in the village of Scotia is entering its final stages as officials ready for the next phase of a more than $13 million facilities project approved by voters two years ago.
Lawmakers awarded a handful of construction contracts on Wednesday for the final stages of the more than 14,000-square-foot firehouse currently under construction along Mohawk Avenue, just a stone’s throw from the decades-old current facility on the corner of North Ten Broeck Street.
Façade work on the $5 million multi-story building is near completion, and contracts have been awarded to lay down an epoxy floor and install of gear lockers, an apparatus exhaust system and kitchen equipment. There are several contracts still to be awarded for things like new furniture, according to Mayor David Bucciferro.
“New contracts have to do with furnishings for the building and final touches that are going into the building,” he said.
Bucciferro said work on the new facility is expected to be completed by the end of May. A targeted move-in date for the fire department is set for early June.
But the firehouse project is just part of a series of construction efforts planned in the heart of the village.
Once the fire department is moved in, work will begin to remediate asbestos throughout the Village Hall building, which houses government operations as well as the village’s court facility and police department.
In anticipation of the work, village lawmakers approved a 12-month agreement on Wednesday to lease a vacant 11,510-square-foot storefront at the Scotia Village Plaza along Sacandaga Road. The space will house village operations, including the police department, throughout the construction phase.
Per the agreement, which is effective from May 1 through April 2025, the village will pay $8,153 in monthly rent, plus monthly utilities and the cost to build out the space. The contract also includes two renewal options for three months at the same cost.
It also includes an option for the village to terminate the lease early with 90 days notice.
“We’re not anticipating the full year, but we needed to protect ourselves in case there were construction delays, or delays of any sort like material allocation,” Bucciferro said. “We wanted to protect ourselves to make sure we didn’t end up not being able to go anywhere.”
Plans to construct a new village firehouse and update the Village Hall facility have long been talked about in Scotia but past officials struggled to bring the project to fruition. In 2004, residents rejected a referendum despite the existing firehouse having a lack of space for emergency crews to decontaminate after battling a blaze, and cramped quarters for the village’s career fire staff.
Still, some raised concerns about the long-term impact of the project even as voters approved the work.
But the project has so far remained on budget, according to Bucciferro, who noted that officials continue to apply for grant funding to mitigate the impacts to taxpayers.
“We’re continuing to search for grants,” he said. “We’d love to get some.”