The Town of Essex has talked about building a new fire station in Harrow for the past four years, but a report going to councillors on Monday night says it may have found a suitable location.
It recommends 2215 Roseborough Road in Harrow, the site of the Harrow Soccer Complex. The Town already owns the property so it would present significant cost savings, according to the report.
Town councillors first started talking about moving Essex Fire Station 3 in 2018 when it commissioned a study by Archon Architects and consulting engineers, Haddad Morgan Associates.
A study on the condition of the existing station on Centre St. East said the building was inadequate for emergency services. The washrooms aren't up to current standards. There is little space for storage. Insulation is limited. There is no exhaust extraction system, and the roof was a fire hazard. Most of the ageing systems were in fair or poor condition.
Renovating the station would cost up to $2.3-million, not including the expense of relocating firefighters to another property for the ten months the work was underway.
The building was constructed in the early 1980s and had undergone some expansion, but there was no more room on the property to expand the station further.
The study concluded the station needed to be twice its current size to adequately meet the needs of firefighters, and the most cost-effective solution was to build a new station at a different location.
If councillors approve the new address, the design phase of the project will move ahead in 2024, with budgeting the year after.