The concept of combining a fire hall and a library conjures images of a stern librarian trying to shush firefighters as they answer a call with sirens blaring, but replacing Victoria鈥檚 Fire Station No. 1 with a multipurpose building is an idea worth pursuing.
It would cost about $8 million to upgrade the 1950s-era fire station to current seismic standards, with more renovations needed because the station鈥檚 vehicle bays are too small for modern fire trucks. Preliminary estimates put the cost of replacing the fire hall at about $18 million.
On Thursday, city councillors mused about building a structure that would house other public facilities, such as a library. Libraries, despite light-hearted stereotypes, are not inert mausoleums for books, but should be lively places for learning and exploration. Having a library share a building with a fire station wouldn鈥檛 hurt either function.
But that鈥檚 only one idea. The City of Vancouver has proposed putting apartment suites above some firehalls to help ease the need for affordable housing, although living with the prospect of screaming sirens and roaring fire engines at any time of the day or night might not be to everyone鈥檚 liking.
Perhaps another facility that might be a good neighbour to a fire station would be an after-hours medical clinic for non-emergency cases, to ease the strain on hospital emergency departments.
If the city is going to spend money to develop a building site and lay foundations, it makes sense to maximize the value of those base costs by providing for multiple uses of the structure.
