As work continues on new headquarters for Welland’s fire department, people might notice the windows facing East Main Street sit high on the building and are unusually narrow.
This is all part of a plan to make the facility one of the most energy-efficient in the country, Chief Adam Eckhart said.
In a news release, city hall called it a “golden example of brownfield remediation and environmental stewardship.”
The placement of the windows is related to the seasons, said Eckhart, explaining how they will work when temperatures are high or low.
“They’re not going to collect the same amount of sun energy in the summer, which will create less demand on the air-conditioning system,” he said, adding in the winter when the sun sits lower, heat will be absorbed and reduce the use of the building’s system.
The property, at 400 East Main St., is a brownfield that used to hold a mill on the Atlas Steels property.
“Soil contaminants ranged from heavy to light and were safely removed using traditional remediation methods,” the city reported.
Eckhart said such things as chunks of concrete, parts from old roadways and its former foundation were part of the cleanup. Some spots had been contaminated by hydraulic oils and other chemicals over the years.
Five thousand cubic metres of concrete was repurposed rather than being sent to landfill, while reducing costs for dumping, trucking and materials.
It was crushed and chipped on site, and used as a base under the site’s asphalt parking lot.
“Even though it’s older concrete, there’s still a lot of strength left in it,” said Eckhart.
The cost for the new Welland Fire and Emergency Services Station 1 headquarters, with a training tower, comes in at $13.67 million.
Another new station, at the rear of the current headquarters on King Street, is also under construction at a cost of more than $4.2 million, including demolition of the building.
Eckhart said the new station comes with a “big ticket price,” but the efficiencies it will bring over its anticipated 50-year lifespan should be substantial.
“I think it’s important to think of the cost of the construction versus the cost of the life of a building,” he said.
“If you build a poorly efficient building, you pay a whole lot more in every way.”
The berm at the rear of the site provides environmental benefits, including being seeded with native species to support the local habitat. That reduces soil diversion to landfills and provides a noise barrier.
A pond is necessary to capture the rainwater on the eight-acre property and limit the release to ensure nearby properties do not flood.
“We don’t want to be a burden to the neighbourhood,” said Eckhart.
Water used in firefighter training will recirculate to the pond and be used repeatedly. The pond also supports training in water and ice rescue operations.
Its design represents three main landscape features in the community: the shipping canal banks, bridge/bank/docks, and a low-slope entry point like a ramp, said the city.
An exact date has not been set for the new headquarters’ completion, but Eckhart said he hopes to be able to pinpoint it early in 2022.
