Township to seek bids to build a new fire hall in St. Clements

THE TOWNSHIP OF WELLESLEY will be seeking proposals for the construction of a new fire station to replace the current building on Herrgott Road in St. Clements.

Meeting to vote on the matter Tuesday evening, councillors agreed the township should seek out bids on the construction of an entirely new facility rather than opt for a renovation of the existing structure.

Though no fixed timelines or costs have been set for the construction, township staff said they were hoping for a 2019 start, after the final cost had been approved in the 2019 budget deliberations.

“It’s a big step. It’s something they’ve been waiting for for quite some time,” said Mayor Joe Nowak.

The next step will be to put out a request for proposals for construction on the new fire hall, after which councillors would have to the approve the cost in next year’s budget.

A feasibility study commissioned by the township and carried out by the engineering firm AECOM, determined that the cost of retrofitting the current fire hall in St. Clements, Wellesley Fire Station No. 2, will cost almost the same as replacing the entire building.

Preliminary estimates by AECOM suggest it would cost $1.9 million to upgrade the fire hall, versus $2 million to simply replace the entire structure and start from scratch.

The current station in St. Clements was reportedly constructed in 1979 following considerably older building standards. The facility would need to be retrofitted to meet modern requirements, including the addition of steel reinforcements to increase the building’s load bearing for “post-disaster” loads, new mechanical and plumbing systems, and improved insulation.