WINTHROP -- The former Winthrop Health Center will become the new headquarters of Winthrop Emergency Medical Services.

Winthrop Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to buy the building and almost 3 acres at 31 Old Western Ave., for $332,500, from MaineGeneral Medical Center.

The plan is to renovate the building and erect a garage for ambulances, with improvements estimated to cost about $200,000, according to Winthrop Town Council Chairman William MacDonald.

The town has been looking to improve conditions for its public safety services, including ambulance personnel, police and firefighters, for the past several years. Last year, residents twice defeated multimillion-dollar proposals to erect a public safety complex to house all three departments along U.S. Route 202.

After the second proposal was defeated, councilors decided voters wanted services to remain downtown and at lesser cost.

"We're doing our best to keep costs down and get good facilities for all three departments," MacDonald said.

Winthrop Ambulance Director John Dovinsky said purchase price, renovations and a new garage would mean a final cost of $65 per square foot for the new facility.

MacDonald said the town council would use undesignated funds to pay for the property, but might look at some combination of surplus and bonding for the renovations.

The closing date for the sale would be around April 15, MacDonald said.

The former health center has been vacant since MaineGeneral moved its services into several floors of the rehabilitated Winthrop Commerce Center about 18 months ago.

The health center's assessed value is listed at $562,300, and the site had been listed for sale for $495,000.

"Obviously this has been a long road, and by our prior actions, the majority of us have shown we might like to have done something different," said Councilor James Norris. "I guess we can only still hope there's some lingering possibility we are able to piggyback the fire station at this location."

Norris, MacDonald, Patricia Engdahl and Linda Caprara voted in favor of the purchase.

Councilor Kenneth Buck Sr. voted against it. "I think this town council should have looked more at the existing fire station (as a home) for EMS," he said.

MacDonald told Buck that the EMS site must have living quarters that meet health and safety codes and that the fire station was an older building not intended as living quarters.

The full-time ambulance department serves Winthrop, Fayette, Mount Vernon, Readfield, Manchester and Wayne, and occasionally assists in neighboring towns.

"It's very encouraging; finally there's some light at the end of the tunnel," Dovinsky said. "My hope is that we could be in there some time in June."

MacDonald said that once EMS moves to the new site, the police could move into the former ambulance headquarters while the police station is renovated. He said that could save as much as $40,000 to $50,000 for temporarily housing the department elsewhere.

The fire station is third in line for improvement.

Fire Chief Dan Brooks, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said the department has made some improvements to buy time.

The parking situation there, however, he rated as "atrocious."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com