Staff have revealed initial plans for Bradford’s future Fire Station No. 2.
Based on a report and presentation from Steve Neely, the town’s manager of construction projects, the strategic initiatives committee recommended council approve moving ahead with a with 30-per-cent detailed design of the Bond Head fire station and public works facility, during the committee’s Jan. 28 meeting.
“It’s a very good looking building,” Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie said.
Modelled closely after Bradford West Gwillimbury Fire and Emergency Service’s Station No. 1 — with similar brick, masonry, towers and false peak in the centre of the fire bays — the new station is proposed to be built on a 1.15-hectare (2.85-acre) property just east of the entrance to the water tower at 4020 County Road 88, on the north side of the road, west of Highway 400.
That’s proposed to house a 1,143-square-metre fire hall with attached 405-sq.-m works building with a yard to be shared with the parks and transportation departments.
Neely called it a “beautiful” and “well-positioned” site, but cautioned the interior layout included in the presentation was still just preliminary.
As it stands, the fire station portion includes: two double- and one single-deep bays for fire engines, rooms for gear and laundry, men’s and women’s washrooms, a foyer, offices, a training room/emergency operations centre, a kitchen/lounge, and an exercise room.
The works side is set to include a foyer, offices, a lunch room, a meeting room, and a locker room.
Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik asked about adding an accessible washroom so the facility could also be used as a public meeting space, as none of the existing options in Bond Head have an accessible washroom.
However, Mayor James Leduc suggested that for now it would be better to hold public meetings in the space available at Station No. 1 at 77 Melbourne Dr., and in the future at the planned civic centre at 125 Simcoe Rd., plus the town eventually plans to redevelop the Bond Head Memorial Community Centre.
“I prefer not to make this a mimic of the main hall,” the mayor said. “This is an operational building.”
He suggested it would be better to remove the foyer as residents shouldn’t be visiting, and wanted to see even more of the facilities shared, such as the lunch rooms and meeting rooms, to help reduce the costs.
That sentiment was echoed by councillors Peter Ferragine and Nickolas Harper, and Harper also suggested more costs could potentially be saved by spending less on aesthetics.
While Terry Foran, director of recreation and cultural services, explained the initial design was based on discussions with the fire department, he also acknowledged that if council wanted to make changes, this would be a good time to “trim it up.”
“Now is the time to make those adjustments,” he said, adding staff will have further discussions with Fire Chief Michael Rozario about options.
However, Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott said the town is already getting good “bang for buck” by serving three different departments out of one facility, and he was “quite happy” with what was presented.
“I would just caution about trying to squeeze too much water from the stone,” he said.
While the shared facility is intended to help improve efficiencies, it’s also planned to be strategically located for providing services and response times to Bond Head, the employment lands and incidents along Highway 400.
The need for a second station was identified as early as the town’s 2013 fire master plan, and Neely’s report explains staff feel now is the time to proceed based on growth in the employment lands and the 4,400 homes planned to eventually be located in Bond Head.
The town recently secured the property through negotiations with local developers and expect to begin technical surveys and investigations in February.
If all goes well, Neely expects a contract could be awarded by August or September and construction could begin between September and December this year.
The total construction cost is currently estimated to be about $16.14 million, which is about $2.81 million less than roughly $18.95 million included in various long-term budgets for Bond Head, including the fire station, operations yard and parks yard.
Recommendations from the strategic initiatives committee are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.