A ceremonial groundbreaking for the new fire hall was held on Monday afternoon. Town councillors, staff, firefighters and representatives of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection Society turned out for the event. It has taken 10 years and one referendum to get the $6 million project from early planning to shovels in the ground. (Richard McGuire photo)
Construction on a beautiful and modern fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos is expected to begin by the end of the week and that has longtime Fire Chief Rick Jones, Mayor Sue McKortoff and a lot of local residents very happy.
The new state-of-the-art fire hall, complete with on-site training centre, is expected to open for business approximately one year from now, said McKortoff during an official groundbreaking ceremony held Monday afternoon at the site on 74th Avenue, about 200 metres west of Hwy. 97.
“This is a really great day for Osoyoos, for the town, for the fire department, for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and for the Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection Society,” said McKortoff. “I think it has taken 10 years to get this organized and off the ground … it’s very exciting.”
A large contingent of local volunteer firefighters were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony as were all four town councillors, senior administration from the town, representatives from the OIB and rural fire protection society and a representative from Greyback Construction Ltd. from Penticton.
The Osoyoos Fire Department provides fire protection services to all residents of the Town of Osoyoos, but also has long-term working arrangements with the OIB and Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection Society.
Greyback was awarded the $5.7 million tender to complete construction of the new fire hall and is expected to have crews in place by the weekend.
Much of the preparatory infrastructure work for the project is expected to be constructed over the next several weeks, but the majority of work on bricks and mortar isn’t likely to begin until January or February once the cold winter weather subsides.
McKortoff said awarding the contract and holding a groundbreaking ceremony is exciting, but that won’t compare to what will happen a year from now once construction is completed.
“Next year around this time, we will be holding a formal ceremony where we will all return to celebrate having our new fire hall ready to open,” she said. “It will be a treat.’
Jones, deputy chief Bill Roque and longtime volunteer firefighter Blake Ogilvy all put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort to make the dream of a new fire hall for Osoyoos a reality and deserve much of the credit for ensuring this project would happen, said McKortoff.
Local residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of borrowing $5.9 million to pay for the new fire hall during a public referendum held in conjunction with the municipal election last November.
For Jones, the groundbreaking ceremony marks one of his proudest moments since he first joined the local fire department as a volunteer 33 years ago.
“For Bill, Blake and I, we’ve worked an awful lot of long hours on this project and it’s exciting to know everything is in place and construction is going to start,” he said. “I never thought it would take this long, but when you’re dealing with government, you learn to be patient.”
Because of the relatively mild South Okanagan winters, Jones said construction crews will be able to get a lot of work done this fall and heading into winter.
Being able to move out of an old, cramped building into a new, modern fire hall that will feature a fully equipped training centre is going to improve safety and morale and help recruit new volunteers for the Osoyoos Fire Department, said Jones.
“The biggest thing is it will be safer for the firefighters,” he said. “We’ve had to work out of very cramped quarters for many years. Moving into a new hall is really going to improve morale and I have no doubt it will also help recruit a lot of new guys who are going to be able to do all of their training right here on site.”
Colin Lancaster joined the local fire department 34 years ago in 1981.
Knowing that construction is set to begin and the new fire hall will be fully operational in approximately one year is very exciting news, said Lancaster.
“It’s going to be very different moving into a place where there’s adequate room for the trucks and the volunteers,” he said. “We’ve operated out of very tight quarters for many years and managed to do a great job, but having a new fire hall is really good news for all of the volunteers and for the community as a whole because we’ll be able to have better training and provide even better service.”
Lancaster also mentioned the hard work put in by Jones, Roque and Ogilvy and praised them for putting in so much effort to ensure a new fire hall would become reality in Osoyoos.
“I don’t think most people in town know just how many hours these guys have put into this,” he said.
Lancaster agreed that recruitment efforts to attract young volunteer firefighters is going to be greatly enhanced with the new fire hall about to open one year down the road.
“Having the new hall and training facility all right here is going to attract a lot of interest in the fire department within the community,” he said.
Lancaster said he will be making regular visits to the construction site over the next several months to check out the progress of construction.
“It’s an exciting project for the department and for the community,” he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff delivers some opening remarks prior to the ceremonial ground breaking for the new fire hall on Monday afternoon. Town councillors, staff, firefighters and representatives of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection Society turned out for the event. (Richard McGuire photo)
A ceremonial groundbreaking for the new fire hall was held on Monday afternoon. Town councillors, staff, firefighters and representatives of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection Society turned out for the event. It has taken 10 years and one referendum to get the $6 million project from early planning to shovels in the ground. (Richard McGuire photo)
