Officials in one Somerset County borough are looking to turn an abandoned building into the new borough building and police station by next year.
Last week, we reported that Hooversville Borough received a state grant to help make this project happen, but on Thursday, we spoke with borough officials about the in-depth plans.
Council president Ken Karashowsky says the borough was able to buy the building that was last used as the Crossroads Cafe in 2019 located along Route 403.
He says they have been eyeing the building for years but had to take gas tanks out from underground at what also used to be a gas station work that is done now.
Officials say they plan to bid out remodeling the inside of the building this winter but are still looking for additional money to finish the project.
Police chief Jonathan Wolf says the larger space and more easily accessed location will help the police department.
And Hooversville officials hope that it doesn’t take long to get the building ready.
“This summer though, we’re hoping to do some work on the exterior of the building and moving forward we hope to be possibly in this building in another year,” said Karashowsky.
“Current space in the borough office is limited. This will allow a much larger space. We could potentially have an interview room or a dedicated space to interview people, including victims,”
Borough officials add that the building has four floors, even though it doesn’t look like it from the outside, and say they’re also talking about possibly having the area historical society in the building.