Public meetings will be held early in February on proposals to rebuild two local fire halls.
The sessions will focus on the redevelopment of fire halls 4 and 5. Fire hall 4 would be redeveloped to replace the the existing hall on the same property at 5775 Wallace Street, just west of the Abbotsford-Mission Highway. Fire hall 5 would move from its current location on Mt. Lehman Road north of Harris Road, to 30373 Merryfield Ave., south of the existing location.
The need to replace the two halls was identified in the 2014 budget, to address seismic and operational issues, and the city decided to retain a construction management firm to develop a final budget.
Fire hall 4 in Matsqui Village was built in 1963. It serves the agricultural area of Matsqui Prairie and the Abbotsford-Mission corridor. It does not meet B.C. building code seismic requirements. It was originally scheduled for replacement in 2002, according to fire services’ 2011-2020 master plan.
Fire hall 5 was built in 1965 and serves the rural areas of Mt. Lehman, Bradner, Jubilee and Glen Valley. It shares an access and parking lot with the Mt. Lehman library and credit union and was originally scheduled to be replaced in 2001.
The public information meeting on Fire hall 4 will be held Tuesday, Feb. 3 at the hall from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The meeting for Fire hall 5 will be held at the existing hall at 5875 Mt. Lehman Road on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.