Meeting the need: New fire hall goes up in Woking to replace former facility

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.

“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 old Woking fire hall was very small and the county was looking to expand the 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 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 building was constructed by chandos construction and designed by turpin 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

The 6,500-square-foot building is mostly single storey with a hose tower that is 40-feet tall. It features two double drive-thru bays and a single bay for a total of five trucks.

The new fire hall features a storage room, a meeting/training room, a kitchen, an office, washrooms, and a shower room.

that work picking up in more remote communities, whereas in larger centres they tend to renovate existing buildings. since the community of Woking is very remote (around 45-minutes north of Grande Prairie), that ended up being a challenge for contractors since they had to make sure that all equipment was with them when going to the site.

“the hamlet of Woking is quite small and there are not any major services in that particular location, so the workforce is coming from grande Prairie,” says Webster. “[therefore], having the work planned to have the right materials [was important]. You’re not in a major centre where you can run down to the hardware store and pick up whatever you missed, so for us that was probably the biggest challenge to make sure the job ran smoothly.”

the replacement fire hall opened earlier this year and some concrete work, fencing, and landscaping will still need to be completed after the spring thaw. ballard says that the new facility will meet the needs of the fire department and the community for years to come.

“It’s built for the future, not the present. It’s also expandable beyond what we’ve built,”

says ballard. “if Woking somehow turned into a much bigger centre, the facility could grow with the community. the response from the public has been very positive and supportive.” -

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