Squamish will soon be losing its steampunk-looking Tantalus Fire Hall and gaining a more modern, safe and efficient fire hall.
The District of Squamish has announced the muni is moving forward with constructing a new $15.8-million Tantalus Fire Hall (Fire Hall No. 2).
The new Fire Hall will be built at its existing site after the Valleycliffe Fire Hall (Fire Hall No. 1) is done.
Completion of that hall is expected in July.
While the new Tantalus Hall is being built, a temporary facility will be set up on the corner of Tantalus Road and Newport Ridge Drive to allow for continued fire protection in the area.
“Council set an ambitious goal in 2018 of progressing to shovel-ready or beyond on three District facilities by 2022 to address end-of-life facilities that deliver critical operational and life safety services, and we are very pleased to see this project moving forward,” said Mayor Karen Elliott in a news release.
“There have been many firefighting advancements in the past 40 years, and this new fire hall will allow us to meet functional requirements for things like decontamination, accessibility and equitable, gender-neutral facilities to create an environment for our firefighters to better serve our community for decades to come.”
Built in 1978, the Tantalus Fire Hall lacks seismic, environmental and general structural integrity, according to the District news release.
In 2018, an architectural and engineering review found that even with renovations, the Tantalus Fire Hall could no longer meet the District's needs.
Previous structural upgrades outside the building have been quite obvious, with metal polls reinforcing the main structure, thus giving it a steampunk appearance.
The new Tantalus Fire Hall will be Squamish's secondary fire hall — second to Valleycliffe's new facility.
The almost complete Valleycliffe Fire Hall will become Squamish Fire Rescue headquarters, housing the fire department administration, which is currently housed at the Tantalus Hall, and the Emergency Operations Centre, which has been housed in the RCMP building on Finch Drive.
The Tantalus Hall will have three firefighting vehicle bays and accommodations for up to 46 firefighters, with the potential to accommodate an additional four storeys above at some point.
The District is applying for a grant to help fund the new Tantalus Hall under the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund (GMF) project loan and grant initiative. This initiative funds capital projects targeting net zero energy performance in a new municipal facility.
The design objective of the Tantalus Fire Hall is to achieve Net Zero energy consumption.
For more information, go to squamish.ca/facilities/.
