SKANEATELES - The rooms smell of dust and fresh paint. Wires hang from the ceiling, pink insulation rests on a table and a roll of caution tape is strewn over the floor.

All are signs that the new Skaneateles Fire Station - so proclaimed by block gold lettering at its entrance - is that much closer to being open for business. Town and village officials recently toured the $4.8 million facility, located at the corner of West Genesee Street and Kane Avenue, to get a sneak peek of how far construction has come over the past year.

“It looks like they have just about everything they need, doesn't it?” Town Councilor Barbara Spain said as she walked toward the department's meeting area.

That carpeted space, one of just several amenities in the new station, leaves room for the display of the Skaneateles Volunteer Fire Department's 1833 handpumper, the first piece of apparatus the department ever owned.

The history of the new station itself goes back several years.

“We can't wait to get in there because there's like a whole generation that has been working on it,” said Kathy Murphy, president of the SVFD, noting that the department has been discussing getting a new station for at least 17 years.

When it was determined that the SVFD could not renovate its current Fennell Street site, the department compiled a list of several suitable locations in the area, and the current site was always No. 1, said Martin Hubbard, who served as mayor from 1991 to 1995 and trustee a total of eight years.

But at the time, the idea to build the fire station at that corner was “crushed by a vocal minority,” Hubbard said as he toured the building. Town Clerk Janet Aaron said that the Kane Avenue site initially received a great deal of public opposition from nearby residents.

As the years passed, other sites were considered, and in 2004, voters resoundingly rejected a more than $6 million station at what is now referred to as the Mackes property.

In February 2006, taxpayers approved a $4 million station at the West Genesee/Kane Avenue location.

However, due to increased construction and energy expenses, the cost of the project rose to $4.8 million, and state law mandated that the new figure go before the public once again. Voters approved the $4.8 million expense in October 2006.

“It's a beautiful facility, right? It's something that makes you proud,” Hubbard said, looking out from under his yellow hard hat. “It should serve the community well for a long time.”

Hubbard noted how pleased he was that the station ended up at its current location, which has access to two major roads.

At 16,300 square feet, the new station more than doubles the size of the old building.

It includes upstairs offices for both the active fire chiefs and the department's administrative officers. The building also has a radio room, lounge, records storage space, an office for the Ladies Auxiliary and an area for their loan closet items, as well as a larger and more modern kitchen and a training room.

The large meeting room can be made available for public meetings, as the firefighters#, apparatus and work areas can be secured from general access, said Village Trustee Alan Dolmatch, chairperson of the Fire Station Project Committee.

While standing in the 8,000 square-foot apparatus bay, Village Mayor Robert Green said that he particularly liked the separate decontamination and air pack-filling rooms, as both provide the firefighters with better operational safety.

So when can the firefighters begin taking advantage of the structure?

Originally, substantial completion for the project was scheduled for November 2007. But a problem with some of the brickwork - it had to be taken down and redone after faulty masonry was discovered - set the project back some, and that target is now by the end of January, Dolmatch said.

Murphy said that though construction took longer than expected, the firefighters are excited about the move. The department, which celebrates its 175th anniversary this year, is working on plans for an open house.

Meanwhile, the village is looking into possible other uses for the Fennell Street station. It has hired VIP Structures of Syracuse to take a look at several options.

These include: 1) Village demolishes the buildings on site and constructs new village offices and police station; 2) Village partially demolishes the buildings on-site, reusing some or all of the existing fire station for a combined village office/police station structure; 3) Village disposes of the whole site to a developer but requires the developer to provide space through a lease for a police station; and 4) Village retains a portion of the site needed for a new police station and disposes of the rest of the site for private redevelopment.

In each case, some public parking would be part of the program, Dolmatch said.

VIP Associates will present a financial and feasibility analysis to the village board in January.