WILLIAMSBURG — It’s not quite in shape to host emergency services yet, but the town’s gleaming new Public Safety Complex is ready for its close-up with the public.

A guided tour of the $5.3 million, 8,000-square-foot building is being offered Saturday, from noon to 2 p.m.

“We’ll have an open house in the spring. This is more an open door, to let people see what they’ve bought,” Bill Sayre, chair of the building committee, said on a walk-through of the building Thursday.

There’s a list of small things to be finished up before the police and fire departments can vacate their old quarters and move in, Sayre said.

“We’re anticipating a measured move-in process,” Town Administrator Nick Caccamo said earlier this week. “The police and fire departments need to continue to provide services.”

He suggested that Jan. 1 might be an official date for the move-in.

Things are moving fast at this point, though. The building inspector issued a certificate of occupancy to the town Thursday, and Fred Snyder, of general contractor Forish Construction, said his work would be done by the end of next week.

The unveiling concludes a 12-year odyssey with three committees, Sayre said. There was little dispute that the town’s existing police and fire facilities were inadequate to modern requirements. The main problem was finding the right site and then, when the site was determined, deciding to raze the old Helen E. James School, a grand 100-year-old edifice that held memories for many residents.

“The town needed time to come to terms with the decision,” Sayre said. “The main factor was cost.”

The expense of converting the brick structure into a building that complied with modern safety codes was far greater than building new, he said.

The new building features a capacious, well-lit bay for five fire engines, with a non-skid epoxy floor that’s heated to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, hanging lines to charge the engines’ air brakes and exhaust tubes that attach to the tailpipes and remove the fumes and carbon monoxide.

Off to the side are a gear storage room, gear washer/dryer and fill station for airpacks.

Around the western facade are offices and conference rooms for fire and police, with separate entrances for each department. The rooms are trimmed in red or blue, with a common meeting room in between. The police department features a booking room and sally port.

To the east of the building there’s space for a park. Work will begin on that in the spring, Sayre said, as well as some finishing touches such as the town seal and a sign on the side of the building facing Route 9.

The bill to the taxpayers will be $4.6 million, Sayre said. The town was able to bring that number down from the original estimate of $5.1 million with the help of a $1.8 million state grant through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program.

Among other energy-efficiency items, that grant is paying for solar panels that will be installed in the spring on the roof and over the parking area, which will generate more than enough power to cover the building’s electrical needs. The only non-electrical system in the building is the fire department floor, which is heated by propane. That concession was made out of cost considerations, Sayre said.

Coincidentally, the Public Safety Complex will enter the history books as the last project completed by Forish Construction. After 77 years, the Westfield company is closing down its operations and going out of business.