Early next year Milford’s DMV office is scheduled to move out of its current space and into the old police station, above, which is being refurbished.

MILFORD – The state Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to move early next year into a renovated Elm Street building that had once been the town police station.

Last week the state signed a two-year lease with the building’s new owner, Jeff Odhner, whose business, Odhner Holographics in Amherst, also will move there.

The state wants the DMV to move from nearby Meadowbrook Drive Jan. 1 into what is considered a temporary location while a new Milford courthouse is being built on the site, which has been the longtime home of state police Troop B headquarters.

The courthouse has been in rented space for years and is currently across Elm Street from Granite Town Plaza.

Odhner plans to turn the old police station into a technology center, with the DMV on the west side.

The Southern New Hampshire Business Technology Center would be similar to tech centers in Nashua, Manchester and other New Hampshire cities, he told the planning board recently.

It will have a common area and expensive equipment, like a laser cutter and milling machine, that can be used in common.

“I had business incubator people from Concord come down to talk about it, and they are very excited,” he said.

At a recent board meeting to review the project, abutters from the nearby mobile home park had concerns about parking, traffic and environmental contaminants.

“The DES (state Department of Environmental Services) is involved in every step,” Odhner said, and assured planning board members the light manufacturing tenants he wants to attract would be clean and quiet.

Because of the ongoing Savage Well Superfund cleanup just west of the property, the DES imposes use restrictions on the old police station in perpetuity.

The building has been gutted, said Odhner, all the mold is gone, and “we did remediation on just about every nasty thing,” including asbestos and lead, and it’s now a “dry, clean safe place to work.”

He also talked about showcasing new technology in his sign, using architectural holography.

Town officials have long considered the Elm Street building, a converted 1950s-style motel, an eyesore at the town’s west entrance.

There are no changes planned for the rest of the 8-acre property, Odhner told the board. Phil’s Old Fashioned BBQ, a seasonal food truck, is on the east side, and there is a ball field in the rear.

Milford police moved out of the building and into their new one on Garden Street about 10 years ago.

Executive Councilor David Wheeler said the courthouse project should be going out to bid shortly.

Kathy Cleveland can be reached 673-3100 or kcleveland@cabinet.com.