Groundwork on Innisfail’s new fire hall could begin before the end of the month following the awarding of the construction contract to a St. Albert company.
Innisfail town council voted Sept. 26 to offer the $1,782,850 contract to build the new facility where the Mary Morton Public Library currently sits to Johnston Builders Ltd.
Darryl Joyce, the town’s director of corporate services, said the company has done a significant amount of work in the Innisfail area in the past.
“They’ve done a lot of work with the Co-op chain with a lot of their construction projects,” he said.
At the same time, town administration has also instructed its engineers, Genivar, and Johnston Builders to sit down to look for cost savings in a number of areas, Joyce explained.
“In order to get the project underway council awarded the contract at the tender price,” he said.
Construction of the new hall will involve the renovation of the current library space into a clubroom, expanded offices, a training room, a staff room, an exercise room, an emergency operations centre, male and female change rooms, and a hose drying tower. New apparatus bays will be built facing 49 Street where the library’s parking lot currently sits, Joyce said.
Johnston Builders hopes to begin construction this fall, with completion of the project expected by the end of May, 2012, Joyce added.
“(Johnston will) get going on the groundwork fairly quickly and then move into the library once the existing occupants are out,” he said. “(They would) then get their crews in there working on the renovations.”
Innisfail Fire Chief John Syroid said the department is ecstatic about the news that construction will begin shortly.
“We’re really excited because it’s underway,” Syroid said, noting the project has a strict guideline.
Syroid also praised the town’s decision last month to purchase an abandoned lot south of the property that will eventually be used for additional parking and turning of vehicles.
“That’s a big asset to the department,” he said.
Given the facility’s central location at the corner of 50 Avenue and 49 Street, Joyce said it will feature an upgraded exterior similar to the one shown in the designs that were made public by Genivar in June. The new facility will also be an environmentally friendly and efficient facility that will serve the department well for years to come, he added.
“It’s also going to be a very nice-looking facility, not just a metal building,” he said. “It’s going to have some character to it … it’s certainly going to be a building that the community’s going to be proud of.”
