A $76,314 state grant will help pay for Stoneboro Volunteer Fire Co.'s new station.

The department's 50-year-old fire station is "pretty cramped" and needed "quite a bit of renovation," said Fire Chief Rick Reither.

"We looked at either fixing it up or building a new one," Reither said. "We decided it was time to build a new one."

Besides the Community Revitalization Program grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development, proceeds from the department's fund-raising bingo games will pay for the $800,000 station, Reither said.

Construction on the 11,816-square-foot building began in June and is to be complete by December, he said. Rollinson Construction of Hermitage is doing the work.

The new firehouse will have three drive-through truck bays, two offices, a firefighters' lounge, two classrooms on the second floor and a social hall.

The new fire station is going up next to the old one on Linden Street.

The grant award was announed Friday by state Sen. Robert D. "Bob" Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District, and state Rep. Rod Wilt, Sugar Grove Township, R-17th District.