GUILDERLAND — “Hope to whatever deity you hope to,” Chief Michael Costabile told the crowd at the McKowville Improvement Association meeting on April 24 as he held his hands, with crossed fingers, above his head.

Bids for a new firehouse were being opened the next day.

The bids did, indeed, come in within the range that will allow the project to proceed, The Enterprise learned this week.

The $10 million firehouse will be built in the footprint of the current 58-year-old station. Residents had supported the project in April 2024 with 80 percent of the vote.

In 2016, the department had a $3.2 million plan to double the size of its firehouse to nearly 13,000 square feet by adding a second story but, while voters supported the project, bids came back higher than budgeted so the project was a no-go.

This time, the department is ready and eager to move ahead with a firehouse that will have a fourth bay, a second floor, and safety features like a second public entrance so carcinogens can be contained.

“As soon as we know we can pay for it, we’re knocking down the old one,” Costabile told the McKownville crowd the day before the bids were opened.

“Our tentative plan is to be fully moved out of the old firehouse at 1250 Western by Sunday, May 18th,” Michael Wren, on behalf of the McKownville Board of Fire Commissioners, wrote in detailed responses to Enterprise questions on the project.

Costabile explained to the McKownville crowd that the all-volunteer fire company owns a kit building that will be constructed quickly across the street from the old firehouse while the new one is being built.

Meanwhile, administrative offices will move to the company’s 1934 firehouse, which, unlike the kit building that will house firetrucks, has plumbing and bathrooms.

The department was founded in 1918 and the McKownville volunteers currently answer between 250 and 275 calls each year.

The McKownville fire district, in addition to covering about 900 households and many small businesses in the hamlet up to the Albany city line, includes all of Stuyvesant Plaza and Executive Park, the Woodscape housing development, 45 percent of the University at Albany uptown campus, and a portion of Crossgates Mall.

Wren said the department received five bids for the general contractor and multiple bids for each of the primes. Awards went to the companies with the lowest responsible bids:

— General Contractor: Bette & Cring Construction Group;

— Fire Protection: Albany Fire Protection Inc;

— Plumbing: DiGesare Mechanical Inc.;

— Electrical: Arcon Electric, LLC; and

— Mechanical: Tri-Valley Plumbing & Heating Inc.

“There was a wide range for all bids,” Wren reported. “For example, the General Contractor bids ranged over $1 million between the lowest bid and the highest bid. We credit our architect, H2M, for putting together a high-quality set of bid documents which helped us obtain good contractor turnout.”

The total cost for the five contracts is $6,743,700, Wren said, noting, “This amount is only for the construction of the new firehouse building at 1250 Western Avenue.”

Additional costs are for constructing the temporary building across the street to remain “in service” without interruption, for abatement and demolition of the old firehouse, and for professional fees for the architect and project consultants.

“That said,” Wren concluded, “we are well within our projected budget, and within the total project cost of $10.03 million the residents of McKownville approved during a public referendum vote last year.”

With the plan to be out of the old firehouse by May 18, Wren said,“The first vendor we are handing the property over to is our abatement and demolition contractor. We expect this work to be completed within a couple of weeks.”

He added, “It’s important to note that the abatement and demolition contract we have meets all environmental safety standards and best practices including continual onsite air monitoring.”

The general contractor, Bette & Cring, is slated to begin work in early June. To keep residents informed of progress, the department has created a webpage at McKFD.org/building and plans regular updates at meetings of the McKownville Improvement Association, Wren said.

He concluded, “Transparency is important to us, and our goal is to continue to keep the residents of McKownville informed every step of the way throughout this exciting project.”