The City of Vancouver recently completed construction of two new fire stations and the public is invited to a grand opening event on Saturday, Feb. 3. The celebration will start with an open house at Station 1 (2607 Main St.) between 10 a.m. to noon followed by a grand opening event and formal program at Station 2 (2106 Norris Rd.) from 1 to 3 p.m.
The grand opening program, starting at 1 p.m., will feature remarks by Vancouver Fire Chief Joe Molina and Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, a flag raising ceremony with the Vancouver Honor Guard and an official ribbon cutting. Station tours will be available at both locations.
"Investing in our city's public safety infrastructure is an important part of providing high-quality services for our residents and being prepared for any emergency or disaster response," said McEnerny-Ogle. "These stations were carefully planned and designed to allow us to better serve our residents for years to come."
The newly constructed stations not only meet current earthquake safety standards, ensuring emergency response will be possible following a major earthquake, but improves response times to the highest call volume area along the Fourth Plain corridor, between Main Street and St. Johns Boulevard. Relocating the stations will also maximize the efficiency of coverage from all four stations in the southwest part of the city.
Architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, civil and structural engineering and land use planning services was provided by Mackenzie. The contractor was Corp Inc. Construction with Interface Engineering providing the mechanical/electrical/plumbing services for both stations.
"The Fire Department has been looking forward to commencing operations in these seismically safe and modern public safety facilities," said Molina. "I'd like to thank City Council for their leadership, the community for their support, and everybody who was involved with this project for their excellent work in making these two new stations a reality."
Source: City of Vancouver