Fire Hall No. 2 at Tantalus Road

This Fire Hall is one of three critical facilities prioritized for immediate replacement in the 2019 Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan (REFMP). The new Fire Hall No. 2 will serve as the second of the two fire halls for the Squamish Fire Rescue Service (Fire Hall No. 1 is now complete).

An architect's review in 2018 identified that, even with renovations, Fire Hall No. 2 could not meet the needs of the District now and into the future, and recommended that a larger and more efficiently-designed facility be built. The administration offices were moved to Fire Hall No. 1 - Alex Munro (Clarke Drive).

The new post-disaster Fire Hall No. 2 building will consist of three apparatus bays with administration office areas, four dorm rooms, washrooms, a training room, kitchen, and decontamination rooms for post-incident cleanup. Fire Hall No. 2 will operate as a paid-on-call fire hall but is designed to support staff full-time crews in the future.

The new Fire Hall No. 2 sustainability objective is net zero energy consumption while achieving specific energy targets required by the District of Squamish through envelope optimization, photovoltaic (solar) roof panels, highly efficient appliances, LED lighting and lighting control strategies, a high-performance mechanical system using energy recovery strategies and an air-source heat pump. The building is designed to accommodate future housing needs or community space above if required.

The District secured funding for the cost of this project through borrowing and reserves. A grant application is underway for funding under the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund (GMF) project loan and grant initiative that funds capital projects targeting net zero energy performance in a new municipal facility. If approved, this will help to offset some of the cost of the project. The approval process is in its final stages.

$5,202,020 of this project is proposed to be financed by debt to spread the cost of the project out over time, ensuring that future taxpayers also support the upgrade. The annual taxpayer impact represents approximately $1.94 per $100,000 of assessed residential property value.

• Squamish Fire Rescue to move in and begin operations.