The District of Squamish is planning to build a new volunteer fire hall on Tantalus Road in Garibaldi Estates.
The new fire hall is a major capital project in the 2021-2025 financial plan council is now discussing as part of the budget process.
The current facility is at the end of life and requires replacement, according to a staff report. It is expected to cost between $2.8 and $3.1 million.
In 2019, the district completed the Real Estate and Facility Master Plan, which identified the need for a new volunteer fire hall in the Garibaldi Estate as soon as the new main fire hall is completed in the Valleycliffe area.
The district had performed some seismic stability upgrades earlier, although they did not address issues such as insufficient space, lack of gender neutrality and washrooms.
In 2018, the district hired an architect who concluded that even with renovations, the fire hall on Tantalus Road couldn’t meet the community’s needs, and recommended that district build a new, larger, and more efficiently designed fire hall to replace the one on Tantalus Road.
Considering community growth, the architect’s review also suggested that a new volunteer fire hall at Tantalus be designed to permit a 2,300 square feet expansion that would incorporate additional apparatus and more administrative space and quarters.
The council has yet to take a final decision on the project.
