They were still unpacking bowls for the kitchen and the paint wasn't quite dry on the stairwell handrails, but the Olds Fire Department was calling its new hall off of 65 Avenue home as of Feb. 18.
While department administration personnel moved into the town's new emergency services building, located next to the Olds RCMP detachment office on the west side of town, in December, construction of the facility didn't wrap up until Feb. 16.
Two days later, the 112-year-old department moved all of its equipment and vehicles in a convoy from the old fire hall on 50 Street to the new facility.
Lorne Thompson, who has served as the department's chief for the past nine years, said the first call for service came 25 minutes after the convoy arrived.
The new hall's biggest improvement over the department's old home is its size, Thompson said, with a 790-square-metre apparatus bay for the department's vehicles, which include two command vehicles, two engines, two tenders, an aerial platform truck, a rescue truck and a rapid attack vehicle.
Alberta Health Services ambulances will also rent out one section of the bay as of the end of the month, he added.
There is also a 743-square-metre training area and a 465-square-metre mezzanine where firefighters can socialize and relax during off time.
The old hall, which opened in 1975, was roughly 1,068 square metres in total size.
"We outgrew the old place,î Thompson said, adding the layout of the new hall is also superior in that different areas, such as the vehicle bay and the gear locker, aren't jammed up against each other.
A gym for firefighters, which neighbouring RCMP officers will share, also allows for more equipment to be spread out in a larger space and the hall has an emergency operations centre for managing local disasters.
Thompson said having such a centre ready for operation is a benefit, since in the old hall the department would have to set up a centre for each new emergency.
The cost of the new hall was budgeted at $3.4 million and the town has spent $3.2 million with a few small projects left for completion.
The remaining $200,000 will come from Alberta Health Services for improvements to the bay it will use for ambulances.
As for the new location's distance from the downtown core, Thompson said having the hall on the west side of town is beneficial.
Since 30 of the department's 35 volunteer firefighters live on that side of the train tracks, there will be less of a problem if a fire call comes in and a train happens to be going through town.
"If we had a train delay (in the old location) the firefighters would be waiting for the train to go by,î he said, adding now firefighters can be dressed and in the trucks when a call comes in and at worst, a fully manned and ready-for-action department vehicle is waiting at a train crossing.
"It's going to improve our response times. We put this hall where the firefighters live.î
The new hall also has more space for parking and better access to Highway 27, Thompson said.
Deputy chief Brian Powell, who has served the department for 13 years, said the new hall was "long overdue.î
It will allow the department, as the town expands in size and population and requires more firefighters, to eventually move towards having a full-time contingent of members since the new building has a projected lifespan of 60 years or more, he added.
Lance Parrott, a newcomer to the department, said he agrees that the hall, with its better training facilities and larger spaces, moves the department in the direction of having full-time paid firefighters instead of volunteers.
"It gives us an opportunity to push forward and advance.î
Powell said given the town's current growth rates, Olds could have a full-time fire department in roughly 15 years.
Thompson said a grand opening celebration for the new hall will take place in May.
The old hall will become home to the town's parks and facilities department until the town can build the department a new building, said Barbara Hill, the town's community services director.
Parks and facilities staff will begin moving equipment and vehicles from the department's current home at the town's North Shop near the intersection of highways 27 and 2A to the old hall during the last week of February, she added.
On Feb. 19, council directed staff to look into the idea of having the Olds Search and Rescue Society move into the North Shop once it becomes vacant.
Hill also said the town is considering "additional uses for spaces that parks and facilities won't be usingî at the old fire hall.
"We outgrew the old place."Lorne Thompson, Olds fire chief
