The new town of North Harmony administrative building has a completed frame structure. Town officials are hoping that the project is completed by the spring. P-J photo by Jay Young

The construction of a new administrative and court office for the town of North Harmony is progressing.

Former New York State Sen. Cathy Young joined local officials for a ceremonial ground-breaking ceremony in late July, with construction beginning shortly after.

The 5,000-square foot-project began under former town supervisor Sally Carlson, who served from 2006 until her death in 2018, and is now continuing forward under current supervisor Robert Yates.

“I’m pretty excited,” Yates said. “It is going to be something the folks in the town of North Harmony can be proud of.”

The construction site is adjacent to the Ashville Volunteer Fire Department’s Station 1 on 5388 Stow Road in Ashville.

“Things are moving along,” added Yates. “Considering the time of year and stuff. She (the site) is under cover, wrapped up. We are doing all the mechanical right now, plumbing, heating and electrical.”

After bidding out the construction contracts, the town settled on Harrington Architecture to design the project, Empire Development as a general contractor, Citadel Mechanical for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, Sullivan Electrical Contracting, and William T. Spaeder Inc. for plumbing and piping.

“All of the contractors are doing really good, being organized and not stepping on each other’s toes,” Yates said. “It is coming along nicely and when the weather gets better we’ll see exterior work getting done.”

Yates is hopeful that the site will be completed and ready for occupation sometime around May this spring. Ironically, this season’s light winter may have actually slowed down progress.

“A lot of that material you can’t get it rained on,” Yates said. “Anytime there was a threat of rain we had to cover up. When it is cold and snowy you can just blow it off and away you go.”

After completion of the main building complex, crews can begin work on exterior features like parking lots and landscaping when winter begins to fade.