KNOX — The county Department of Public Works garage on Township Road in Knox is scheduled to be knocked down and rebuilt, following a vote by the Albany County Legislature to begin the design phase for the new building. 

“The building is definitely showing its age,” Albany County Legislator Jeff Perlee, who’s on the public works committee, told The Enterprise this week. “While it’s awesome to have a facility there in Knox, it would be more appropriate to have a facility that contributes to the aesthetics of the neighborhood, which that building, presently, does not do.”

Perlee noted that the building sits in a residential area, near single-family homes.

“It’s an old, old wooden garage, more or less,” Perlee said. “And the way it’s oriented, there’s a big chain-link fence that runs the length of the road. It’s very industrial.”

A new building will also be more practical and safe, Perlee said, and a press release from his office said that the design, which is being handled by Lamont Engineers, will use green energy.

Perlee said that there’s no dollar amount attached to the project yet, and that its projected cost will be clearer when the design phase is complete, in February. Construction is expected to start this spring and take about a year.

The town and county are currently in conversation about sharing the facility, Perlee said. In 2017, Knox Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis had said that Knox would be working with Albany County to build a new shared garage.

At the time, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said it would “make sense” for the county and the town of Knox to share a highway garage in Knox, saving money for both town and county taxpayers.

“The discussions between the town and the county, in terms of utilization of the new highway garage, are ongoing,” Perlee said. “Now that the project has been approved to move into the design stage, those discussions are expected to intensify, but nothing’s definitive.”

Lefkaditis could not immediately be reached for comment.