NEW SCOTLAND — With the lowest bidder selected to install a new roof on the Hilton Barn, the town of New Scotland has taken another next step in its major park development project on Route 85A. 

The bids for the roof project came in at and below budget, Councilman William Hennessy said during the May 12 board meeting, “depending on alternatives that are chosen.”

With a low bid of $444,411, Mid-State Industries of Schenectady was awarded the job to install a new slate roof and to repair damages to the timber-frame structure. 

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation has to first give the all-clear to Mid-State and its proposal before the town can accept the bid, so it’s likely the proposal would be accepted at the board’s now semi-regular weekly special COVID meeting, on May 21.

Following the state signing off on the deal, Hennessy said, the town “can pursue this segment of the project in June.”

The town will pay for the new roof and timber repairs as well as the park development that will take place around the barn with an amalgamation of state grants and pledged donations.

Supervisor Douglas LaGrange told The Enterprise on Monday that the town had about $200,000 in previous grants received through Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy earmarked for the roof and repairs. 

There has also been a “substantial” pledge made by a local resident that could help defray the cost, LaGrange said, (he declined to say how much or whom) and “you throw in part of that grant from the state, and, we’re right in the ballpark.”

In 2016, the town saved the massive historic barn when a developer was going to tear it down, by moving it across Route 85A. Joseph Hilton had Frank Osterhout build the barn on his New Scotland farm in 1888.

In December 2019, New Scotland was awarded a $411,000 matching grant — meaning the town also has to come up with $411,000 to receive the funds — from the state to support improvements to Hilton Park, which included restoration of the Hilton Barn, an amphitheater, and skating rink. 

The project’s estimated cost is about $1.2 million. 

Between the Capital Region Economic Development Council grant and the town’s match, that accounts for $822,000 of the project funded. In-kind services, like on-site work performed by the town’s highway crew, will count toward the matching funds. In addition, a parks fund developers have to pay into if they don’t set aside open space totaled over $250,000 at the time of the award.