MANCHESTER -- The Manchester Fire Station is aging, and an information session on a proposal to replace it is planned for Wednesday night.

The session will occur after the school budget vote, which is 6:30 p.m. at Manchester Elementary School.

Terri Watson, chairman of the selectmen, said talks concerning the fire station could begin at 7:30 p.m., or earlier.

Selectmen and a building study committee recommend the town buy a 11/2-acre parcel across from the existing station and erect a new, one-story building.

Selectmen will ask voters at annual town meeting in June whether they concur.

In the meantime, town officials want to get the word out.

"We wanted to have a public meeting just to keep people informed and let them know what's going on and what the building study committee came up with," Fire Chief Allan Hewey said.

He said the committee compared a number of options: repairing the existing fire station, repairing and expanding the station, or building new.

"Once we got the architect in there to investigate the shape of the station as it is, we came to realize that the building is not in very good shape," Hewey said.

Town Manager Mark Doyon said residents will be offered a chance to walk through the station Wednesday night and see a drawing by architect Jim Pelsor of the proposed replacement station.

Selectmen are to discuss the options for the town's fire facilities and their potential costs at a regular selectmen's meeting at 6 p.m. today.

If it wanted to build a new facility, the town has an option to purchase land at 35 Readfield Road from Karen Baldauski, Doyon said.

Doyon said the proposed building would also meet all criteria to serve as a polling place and an emergency shelter.

"We're trying to serve three or four purposes and to look the next 50 or 60 years down the road," he said.

The 60-year-old Manchester Fire Station on Route 17 is adjacent to Manchester Elementary School and the Town Office. Constructed of cement block, the building has a flat, rubber-membrane roof that leaks, Hewey said.

"It does not meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements at all, has stress fractures in the corners and deterioration of cement blocks," Hewey said. "Repairs would be costly. And when you were done, you would still have a 60-plus-year-old building."

Other sites were considered, Hewey said, including the town-owned Drum property at the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and McArdle Street. That site was ruled out because emergency vehicles would have to cross five lanes of traffic to enter and exit the facility.

The study committee recommended the station remain in the center of town, near the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and Route 17.

"We just hope that a lot of people come and talk with us," Hewey said.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com