Thanks to a $1 million provincial grant, the Town of Niverville is excited to begin planning for upgrades to the community’s fire hall and operations building.
“Continuing to keep the residents of Niverville and their property protected from fire is always a priority for the town,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “With Niverville being the fastest growing municipality in the province, fire protection is more important than ever. This investment from the province of Manitoba into an upgrade of our fire hall and operations building is more than welcome, and with the police station nearing completion, this announcement today will help facilitate the next phase of improving emergency services in Niverville.”
Dyck says the town applied for the grant last fall. The delay in response, he believes, is likely due to the changeover in government.
On the heels of this recent news, council anticipates tendering out the conceptual design work this fall. Construction of the multi-phase project is expected to happen somewhere between 2026 and 2027.
In the meantime, council will collaborate with team members from the fire and operations department for their input.
“Now that we have this grant, it allows us to sit down with the fire department,” Dyck says. “In an effort to bring value to the ratepayers of Niverville, both in terms of emergency service and also from a dollar side, these are the conversations that we have to have together.”
When the Town of Niverville purchased the building and land at 329 Bronstone Drive five years ago, it was a proactive move in terms of growth. The new building provided enough space for the town’s growing staff needs, storage for the Public Works department, as well just enough space to accommodate the town’s new RCMP detachment.
The property also borders the existing fire hall at 309 Bronstone. Between the two locations, council is hopeful that there’s enough room for a fire hall expansion.
It won’t be until designers have begun their work, though, before decisions can be made. Dyck says they expect to see a variety of options, which might include a retrofit of the existing fire hall, an addition to the fire hall, or a teardown of the current building and construction of a replacement.
Worst case scenario, council may be required to relocate the fire hall to a completely different site, if space proves to be a problem.
According to Dyck, this is the start of what he expects to be a four-year journey.
In the meantime, he hopes that the fire department can continue to make do as they have been for a while now. They’re cramped, he says, and at present some emergency vehicles must be parked outdoors. Lockers are shared among members and the civic office staffroom doubles as a training location.
