The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is pushing forwards with plans to build a new fire hall in Hosmer, inviting the public to a presentation on the latest project updates.
The RDEK is hosting an information meeting on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Hosmer Community Hall to discuss findings from experts who were involved with the assessment reports and talk about the next steps. The Community Hall is attached to the Hosmer Fire Hall, so attendees will be able to do a walk-through and tour the inside of the building from 6 to 6:45 p.m.
"When I took office, it was important to me to have a fulsome understanding of the condition of the current fire hall before moving forward with plans for a new fire hall. I know there were many residents who shared this same desire," said Electoral Area A director Thomas McDonald. "It has taken longer than anticipated to retain the various experts and we are now at a point where we have received most of the reports and want to meet with the community."
In 2022, RDEK secured $4 million of funding for the project, with $2.5 million coming from the Electoral Area A portion of the Elk Valley Mine Tax Sharing Fund and $1.5 million from the Community Works Fund.
A conditional sale agreement was reached last year on a piece of property at the corner of Kmiecik and Dicken Rd. for the site of the new fire hall, subject to required rezoning and subdivision approval and further discussion on the decision to relocate the fire hall.
The RDEK has been planning for a new fire hall since 2020, when assessments revealed the current site was not up-to-date with modern building and safety regulations. Initially the plan was to simply renovate the existing building, but attention turned to constructing a new site when the hall was found to be in too great a state of disrepair to be worth the cost of fixing and to have too little space to accommodate two additional fire bays.
To read the full project assessments visit www.engage.rdek.bc.ca/hosmerfirehall.
