The new West Perth Fire Station is up and running, and is almost completely finished.
Fire Chief Bill Hunter says construction began back in May of last year, and the new station is located right across from the West Perth Recreation Complex in Mitchell on the same property the old fire station and municipal building are on at 170 Wellington Street. Chief Hunter says the firefighters are in the new building after moving trucks and equipment over just a couple weekends ago, even though the project isn't totally done.
"We've still got some security systems that we're getting finalized, and there's some furniture that hasn't arrived yet because I think COVID has kind of affected everything. So we're still waiting for some what I would call the finishing touches."
Chief Hunter says they moved over trucks and equipment just a few weekends back, and have been responding from the new building ever since. Chief Hunter says as part of the new station, they incorporated something from the town of Mitchell's history into the new hose tower where they dry the hoses.
"The town had the former post office clock from 1911, and the former bell from the post office, as well, so we have incorporated those into the new hose tower."
Hunter says the bell was cast in England in 1912, so it's great to have such a piece of history in the new fire hall. He also notes the hall should be totally done by late March or early April, and that the project cost was just under 2.4 million dollars. The building itself was about 1.7 million and the site work that was done was roughly $600,000. The old fire hall was from the 50's and Hunter says they badly needed an upgrade.