The wrecker’s ball is on order for an iconic downtown Prince George building.
The demolition of the old Fire Hall No. 1 is scheduled for Sunday, May 21.
Preliminary demolition of the building at Seventh Avenue and Dominion Street will begin this month and the city plans to install four-way flashing traffic lights at the intersection to prepare for it.
The old hall served the city for 67 years, from the day it opened in 1956 until it closed permanently in January 2021, when the new Prince George Fire Rescue Fire Hall No. 1 headquarters opened on Massey Drive.
City taxpayers voted in a 2017 referendum to pay for the replacement after it was determined it would prove too costly to renovate the building to suit the fire department’s needs. The hall was most recently used by the contractor who build the Canfor Leisure Pool.
The demolition is expected to take several weeks and will cause disruptions for adjacent businesses and residents in the area from May until mid-June.
The city will be using water to spray the site and limit the dust. Work on the site will happen only from 7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
The city plans to recycle all concrete, metal and wood from the building. Once the debris has been cleared from the site it will become a temporary gravel parking lot until a decision is made on what will become of the land as determined in the Civic Core District Plan. Community engagement to design that plan will begin later this spring.
The city announced it will save the old fire pole firefighters used to slide down when they were responding to emergency calls from their second-floor living quarters in the hall.
