The Village of Dorchester announced last week it has purchased a two lots on Cape Road which will be the future site of a new fire station.

Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:

Mayor Jerome Bear says the lots cost the village $100,000, and fundraising efforts are now underway to fund the construction of the new station.

“We’re looking at a lot of different efforts,” says Bear, including calls to the local MLA, Megan Mitton, and MP Dominic LeBlanc. “We do service a large local service district and a First Nation community,” says Bear. “So we’re looking at how the federal government and provincial government can assist us with funding.”

Bear says the village is also looking at doing their own fundraising, and also “probably borrowing from the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board.”

The new location at 3508 Cape Road is just around the corner from the current Dorchester Fire Hall on Church Street. The current hall is ageing, and no longer meets current standards, says Bear.

“You’re looking at probably about 100 years old,” says Bear. “It is a very ageing building and our fire department needs to be brought up to speed with current codes and current requirements for emergency services.”

Bear says the village has done a footprint assessment of the new site, and the next step is a full environmental assessment.

The village will solve two problems with the construction of the new fire station, says Bear.

“Currently we don’t have any place to store our municipal equipment and, and we’ve been looking at that for years,” says Bear. “It’s a very costly venture as well… So it made sense that we can switch that building over to a municipal works building.”

Bear says the new fire facility will have capacity for training on site, and bring the area’s emergency services up to current standards.

“It’s a great step forward in bringing Dorchester fire and the community itself into the 21st century,” says Bear.