By Shelby Wye
BELLEVILLE – Belleville’s city council has approved the building of a new fire station, which the fire department says will improve response time in emergencies.
Deputy fire chief Bruce Greatrix says that Monday night’s vote ends a process that has taken 15 years.
“We’re looking forward to it. I came to the city in the amalgamation (with Thurlow Township and parts of what is now Quinte West) in ’98 and it’s been talked about since then,” said Greatrix.
Mertrend Contractors Ltd., a Belleville company, will be starting construction in the empty lot across from the Via Rail station on Station Street as early as next week. The project is expected to be completed by March 2015.
This fire station will replace the one on Dundas Street, and possibly even become the primary fire station of Belleville. However, what is most important about this station is where it’s being built, Greatrix said.
“The new location will still have good response time to the east and the south and will improve the response time to the industrial park area. That’s the primary reason why that location (was chosen).”
Currently, Belleville’s firefighters and fire-department administrative staff are spread across Belleville. This new firehall will be able to host the entire administrative operation, including fire-prevention officers, and be the site for prevention training. This will limit communication delays between crews.
The new building will boast a hose tower, a safe, practical spot for hoses to hang when not in use, and will also give valuable training space to the firefighters.
“They’ll be able to do additional training that they were previously unable to do. There’s a staircase where they can practice high-rise training, and ladder training, and high-angle-rescue training,” said Greatrix.
The tower will also serve as an antenna base for a communications centre.
The vote to begin construction on the new firehall was held last night, and passed 5-4. There has been heated debate about whether the project should be approved, since the cost kept rising. That is, until now.
The project was finally approved Monday after Fire Chief Mark Macdonald assured city council that the project will be capped at $7.4-million.