PELHAM — The town will officially break ground on a new fire station this month.

Selectmen signed a contract with Eckman Construction this week. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on the site near the Village Green municipal complex on June 21 at 10 a.m.

The contract guarantees a maximum construction price of $2,988,035, according to Town Administrator Tom Gaydos. If costs are less, the town keeps the difference, Gaydos said.

The new station should be ready for use in early April, Gaydos said. The old station will be torn down.

The project has been in the works for about eight years.

“I think the need has definitely grown over the years, and we’ve outgrown this station,” said fire Chief James Midgley.

When the current station was built, Pelham had an on-call fire department with about 15 members. Call volumes have risen over the years. The department now has 17 full-time staff and administrators, and just under 40 total members, Midgley said. The station is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As it has grown, the department has acquired new equipment that doesn’t fit in the current station. Apparatus stored outside is susceptible to weather damage, and equipment failures have occurred, Midgley said. The septic system has also failed because it was not designed to handle the current usage.

“It’s time to bring all of the high-value equipment inside,” Midgley said.

The new station will be 17,266 square feet, Midgley said. Two 8,500-square-foot apparatus bays will allow all apparatus to be stored inside. The plans include about 7,000 square feet for office space.

Voters approved $3.9 million to build and furnish the new station at Town Meeting. The project will not be bonded. Instead, $2.1 million will be taken from the unassigned residual fund balance and $423,393 will be withdrawn from the fire impact fee account. The remaining $1,376,607 would be raised by taxation. The amount raised by taxation would add about $1 to the tax rate for one year, according to selectmen.

It was the end of a long road for the project, which failed twice at two previous town meetings.

The move to the new station should be complete before the bulk of work starts on a $3.9 million dual roundabout project that would have blocked the front doors of the existing fire station, requiring all apparatus to enter and exit through the rear doors.

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Julie Hanson may be reached at Jhanson@newstote.com.