MEXICO — The Planning Board has unanimously approved a plan to build a Med-Care Ambulance Service building on Route 2 next to Oxford Federal Credit Union.

Bids will go out by the end of the month, Med-Care Director of Operations Dean Milligan said, and be opened at the end of September.

“We’re pretty excited,” he said Friday afternoon. “We could start as early as October.”

If the winning bid comes in on budget, he said the facility could be ready by late fall 2013.

Milligan said $1.8 million is budgeted for the structure and land, which was purchased from Oxford Federal Credit Union.

The current $18 per capita charged to member towns of Med-Care will not rise because of the new building, he said.

The 160- by 80-foot structure would be double the size of Med-Care’s Main Street building. It would have four bays for emergency vehicles, a code-compliant living space and storage area.

The window trim will likely be burgundy to match the major color in Med-Care’s emblem, with the building painted a neutral color such as tan or gray.

The building is needed for a number of reasons, Milligan said.

The current building is not in compliance with code for employees to live on the site. Also, the number of emergency and transfer calls annually has climbed to nearly 4,000, compared to 10 years ago when that number was fewer than 2,900.

Med-Care currently employs 60 people, including 15 full-time.