Hasbrouck Heights -- A detailed design of a new municipal complex will be presented next week as borough officials and insurance companies agree on the final dollar figure for replacing the burned-down Borough Hall and add facilities for seniors.

About time, say people such as Rose Mulle, who have been counting the days since 1998 when senior citizens were promised a recreational center of their own.

That plan, however, was temporarily derailed when Borough Hall went up in flames last Christmas.

"We have to be patient and see what happens," said Mulle, who heads a senior citizens club in Hasbrouck Heights.

In addition to patience, officials are hoping for a chunk of money -- no less than $3.5 million -- from insurance companies, which will pay for a project to restore the 50-year-old Borough Hall or build a new municipal complex, which will include a library and senior citizen center.

Hasbrouck Heights is expected to wrap up discussions with insurance companies within a few days and have a better idea of how much the town may receive. Borough officials expect the final settlement to be somewhere between $3.5 million -- which was initially offered by insurance companies -- and $5 million, which the borough asked for after assessing the value of the building and improvements.

"They’re not going to pay for [just] anything we want," said Borough Administrator Michael Kronyak.

Next week, officials expect to release the cost estimates for a centralized municipal center after they find out how much the insurance companies will reimburse the borough. Community development grants and tax dollars, he adds, would make up the difference.

At the Aug. 8 and 15 town hall meetings, residents will have a chance for questions or comment about the project.

Hasbrouck Heights is a member of the North Jersey Intergovernmental Insurance Fund, a non-profit agency created by municipalities to shop for good insurance rates. One company, General Security Insurance Co., has given Hasbrouck Heights $610,000 since the fire. The money was used to set up temporary government offices and buy law enforcement and public safety equipment.

The Dec. 11 fire, blamed on faulty wiring, struck the Borough Hall at 248 Hamilton Ave., knocking out emergency communications and leaving government employees, police officers, and firefighters with no place to work.

Two years ago, the borough spent $500,000 to buy land in the commercial district at Central Avenue and Boulevard. Since the fire, officials put on hold their plan to build the senior citizen center and library complex, which was estimated to cost $2.4 million.

For visitors, the Boulevard site is more convenient than the residential neighborhood where the burned building used to sit. The new complex would include a parking lot, according to officials quoting architects and planners they hired for the project.

"The old building was sandwiched between houses. There was no parking space during court [hearings,]" Councilman Garrett Pepe, buildings and grounds commissioner. "We put a lot of effort into the project, and we are very proud of it."

The new complex, borough officials say, would be another attraction Hasbrouck Heights’ downtown, an area they have tried to revitalize in recent years by fixing sidewalks curbs, and lights with the help of federal grants.

To Mulle, waiting a few more months won’t hurt. The borough, she says with confidence, will definitely build a recreational hall for senior citizens, who have been meeting at a Catholic church as long a they can remember.