Killarney Guide

Crane Steel Structures to undertake $925,000 project

BY KIM LANGEN

Construction of the municipality’s new fire hall is now underway.

Final details and tweaks of the fire hall plan and budget have been agreed upon, and Crane Steel Structures, contractors for the project, have their command trailer on the site.

The contract price has come in at just around $925,000 for the steel construction, five-bay fire hall, said the mayor for the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain, Rick Pauls.

And its impressive appearance should become very visible towards the end of summer.

“The skeleton of the building will be up sometime in mid-to-late August,” said Pauls. “The entire project will be finished no later than December 1. The fire trucks could be in there by Christmas.”

And nearly half of that cost has already been raised through vigorous fundraising in the community, and incredible donations, over the last several months.

“So far $425,000 has been raised,” said Pauls. “We are still hoping to raise more money this way. We are hoping half of it will be done through fundraising. It will be around $1.1 million when all of it is added up, including the price of the land, the furnishings, and other costs.”

The new fire hall will replace the aging one on Broadway Avenue, next to the Civic Offices. 

A refurbishment will later take place in the old fire hall, incorporating and creating it into an extension of what will be upgraded Civic Offices, including a better entrance for visitors.

FIRE HALL OF THE FUTURE – This is the approved design plan for the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain’s new fire hall on South Railway Street. Ground breaking is scheduled for early next week on the $925,000 project, to be constructed by Crane Steel Structures.

NEW FIRE HALL SITE TRAILER – Crane Steel Structures hauled in their site trailer on Monday morning (right), in readiness for the impending fire hall build. The trailer is for holding meetings, keeping manuals, and for other related issues and communications during the summer-long project. From left are: mayor for the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain Rick Pauls, deputy fire chief Sean Phillips, councillor Janice Smith, chief administrative officer for the municipality Karen Patterson, councillor Gary King, councillor Greg Ericson, Crane Steel Structures project manager Devin Reinhardt, and Crane’s estimator project manager Adam Markewich.

SHOVELS IN THE GROUND FOR NEW FIRE HALL – It was a big moment on Monday morning, as symbolic shovels went into the dirt at the South Railway site of the future fire hall to mark the event. Above the shovelers is the ‘Blow the Top Off the Hydrant’ meter, which monitors the fundraising level of the million-dollar project. The ‘green’ level currently stands at $373,406.63. “We served around 150 burgers last week at the Legion’s Chase the Ace, in aid of our fire hall fundraising,” said Sean Phillips. “They want us to keep doing it, until the pot goes.” This Friday (today) the pot stands at a heaping, sizzling $19,891, and nine cards are left in the deck. The burgers are available starting at 4 p.m., and the Ace race runs from 5 to 6 p.m.

EARTH MOVING BEGINS – By Wednesday, ground preparation for the new fire hall site was underway. The five-bay fire hall – with a final projected cost of around $1.1 million – should be complete this fall.

JAY STRUTH/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS