The state is going to help reduce Stoneboro Volunteer Fire Company's debt.

The fire department recently built a new $877,000 station at 32 Linden St. and paid for it with a loan from Mercer County State Bank and some state funding.

State Sen. Robert D. "Bob" Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District, and state Rep. Rod Wilt, Sugar Grove Township, R-17th District, announced Wednesday that a $125,235 low-interest loan was made available through the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program administered by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

The PEMA loan will be used for refinancing.

Fire Chief Rick Reither II, who's been active with the company for 11 years, said a large portion of the new station was financed through Mercer County State Bank, which offers good interest rates for volunteer fire departments, nonprofit organizations and similar groups.

He said going with PEMA's low-interest rate loan will help even more.

Reither previously called the new custom-colored, split-face block station a big improvement. The new two-level, 12,404-square-foot station stands on the plot next to the old. It was built by Rollinson's Construction of Hermitage.

Firefighters also were discussing the purchase of a new tanker at a cost of about $200,000, but Reither said that will be further down the road, perhaps within five years. "We try to set our goals and work toward them," he said.

Stoneboro's original, wooden fire station was built in 1928 on Beech Street. The department was incorporated in 1935. A new station was built in 1949 on Linden Street and a bingo hall was added in the 1950s. The old Linden Street building, which cost $7,500 to build in 1949, was leveled and turned into a temporary gravel lot until it can be paved.

The volunteer department serves Stoneboro, Lake and Worth townships and the southern sector of Sandy Lake.