When it comes to replacing her community’s Fawn Road fire hall, “measure twice, cut once" was the advice of Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Halfmoon Bay director Justine Gabias. She recommended future needs as well as alternate sites and development models be considered in the planning for a new structure at the Oct. 12 committee meeting.
Gabias's fellow elected officials supported taking that approach and gave the nod to a call for a proposal to do a strategic plan for that fire department in 2024. If approved by the board, those would essentially cancel a plan to replace the hall on its current site, which was launched in 2021. The recommendations are set to go before the board on Oct. 26 and if endorsed will see new project funding proposals at 2024 budget deliberations this December.
The changes were introduced through a staff report on the meeting agenda. It noted that Hall #2 is housed in a converted garage structure that is "nearing end of useful life." That building will be too small to house the department’s fire apparatus beyond 2025 due to the size of new vehicles slated to arrive.
Current site building constraints
A schematic design "test fit" of a proposed larger structure on the current site showed challenges accommodating the building footprint and turnaround space for vehicles and fire apparatus, due to the slope at the rear of the property. A traditional design-bid-build approach was contemplated with the 2021 hall planning project and just over $35,000 has been spent on needs assessment and design efforts. The report indicated much of that work could be transferable to a new project, and that with changes in the construction industry, approaches including design-build should also be considered.
“Another costly item is to set up a temporary hall at another location while the fire hall is under construction. Choosing an alternate site to build a new Hall #2 allows for the current hall to be used while construction is taking place," the report stated. It included a recommendation that locations in the same Welcome Woods neighbourhood be considered for the new hall siting.
All options 'on the table'
Calling the recommendations “a very prudent, sensible way forward” Area E director Donna McMahon asked if co-locating the new hall with another project or purpose was possible. General manager of planning and development Ian Hall responded that all options would be “on the table” and that staff look to maximize the value of any project.
As for any new building’s construction price tag, the report stated “capital development costs in the order of millions of dollars should be anticipated." Fire halls are required to be built to post-disaster standards it noted and they are considered to have an estimated useful life of 70 years.
