Construction underway on two new Welland fire stations
Buildings expected to be ready for service in about a year, after construction started within last week. Total cost around $18M
Every second counts when firefighters gear up for a call, and that’s a factor in why close to $20 million is being spent on new Welland Fire and Emergency Services buildings.
Two new fire stations are expected to be ready for service in about a year, after construction started within the last week.
The construction of a new Station 1, at the former Atlas Steels property at 400 East Main St., and Station 2 at 636 King St. will result in significant efficiencies and improve response capabilities, according to a news release from the city.
The project will consolidate five fire stations into three, as stations 1, 2, 4, and 5 will close once the new facilities are operational. The new Station 1 will serve as headquarters for fire and emergency services operations staff and volunteer firefighters and will include a training tower.
Station 2 will be located behind the current site of the fire department’s headquarters on King Street, which will be demolished once the new building is complete.
The current Station 1 is located at the Welland Hydro building on East Main Street, Station 4 is on Rose Avenue near Thorold Road, and Station 5 is on Schisler Road in rural
east Welland.
Station 3 on Prince Charles Drive will remain open, but there are plans to replace it in the near future, fire Chief Adam Eckhart said Friday.
The cost of building the two new halls is about $18 million. The new headquarters on East Main Street, with training tower, comes in at $13.67 million.
The new headquarters, expected to be open February 2022, will be 2,005 square metres which includes a large garage area that is nearly 50 per cent of the building and accommodations for volunteer and career firefighters.
Station 2 will cost more than $4.2 million and include demolition of the current headquarters at 636 King St. It will go behind the existing station, and be 580 square metres in size with the garage space nearly 60 per cent of the overall building size.
Eckhart called the work “very exciting,” but also necessary as the service’s current buildings were never built to be fire halls. However, all are more than 60 years old and were repurposed to house Welland’s team of first responders.
Putting on gear, loading into trucks, getting in and out of buildings — those will take less time with new buildings.
“If each of those steps add a few seconds, it really adds up,” he said about responses in current conditions.
With headquarters being on East Main Street, it will allow for a “better average response across the city,” said Eckhart.
The investment will modernize fire stations and enhance emergency response, and provide a modern training facility that ensures firefighters a “safe, reliable place to practice their skills for years to come,” said Eckhart.
“Modern stations will improve working conditions for visitors and our firefighters by helping to reduce exposures and contaminants in fire stations. These buildings will lower our energy use and demands on utilities for years to come while setting a performance benchmark that we hope others will also achieve,” he added.
On King Street, Eckhart said he is pleased construction will still allow for the nearby Cool Licks Ice Cream Parlour to continue operating.