The old Woking fire hall was very small and the county was looking to expand the building to meet the needs of their volunteer firefighters.
Meeting the need
New fire hall goes up in Woking to replace former facility The community of Woking recently replaced its fire hall to serve the needs of residents. As part of Saddle Hills County, a large geographical area with a scattered population, Woking, Alta. consists of around 150 people, making it the largest community in the county. Saddle Hills County did a study around five years ago to evaluate the condition, size, and suitability of their fire halls, of which there are five, and the report indicated the need to build some larger facilities.
building to meet the needs of their volunteer firefighters. The replacement facility is located at 6010 Highway 677 on the west side of Woking in Saddle Hills County, and construction started in June 2019 with substantial completion at the end of December 2019. Including the site fill and landscaping, the project was budgeted at $2.7 million and was funded by reserves that the county put away over a number of years.
“The original fire halls were fine at the time they were built and met that need,” says Brian Ballard, director of community and protective services, Saddle Hills County. “With the expanding services our firefighters are providing, as well as expanding equipment, we have outgrown those facilities.”
The 6,500-square-foot building is mostly single storey with a hose tower that is 40feet tall. It features two double drive-thru bays and a single bay for a total of five trucks. There’s also a storage room, a meeting/training room, a kitchen, an office, washrooms, and a shower room.
The old Woking fire hall was very small and the county was looking to expand the
The building was constructed by Chandos Construction and designed by Turpin
60 Grande Prairie Construction Association
Kong Architects Inc. based out of Red Deer. Other GPCA members that worked on the project included JMS Construction and Iron Sun Construction Ltd. The building was constructed with concrete pile foundation with a pre-engineered structure on top. There are concrete aprons and sidewalks outside the building and a gravel parking lot with a potential to pave it in the future. Scott Webster, project manager at Chandos in Edmonton, says that the building was constructed sustainably with as many local materials as possible. Although there aren’t any solar features, he says it’s a durable building and meant for a long life. Webster says that building replacement service-type buildings, such as firehalls, are a big component of the work they do at Chandos. He says they are seeing a lot of
