The Saco City Council plans to take up a volatile proposal Monday night to tear down the city’s old main fire station, but opponents of the move want a stay of execution.

The council has had the station, which was built in the Depression, on the market since spring, seeking someone to buy it for $479,000.

Opponents of the demolition said the fact that no one has offered that much indicates the council put too high a price on the building, especially since fixing structural problems and renovating the building would likely cost almost as much as the sale price.

But Councilor Marston Lovell said the lack of a bid in the neighborhood of the price indicates that it would be better to tear down the building and use the lot on Thornton Avenue, just off Saco’s Main Street, for downtown parking.

“It’s been a long process,” Lovell said, noting that the fire department relocated to a new building in April. “We’re trying to bring this to a culmination.”

The council’s agenda calls for a discussion of selling or reusing the building, but the only motion drafted with a councilor’s name on it is Lovell’s measure to award a demolition contract.