Recently, the Town of Bredenbury released its 2020 budget, revealing a substantial amount of revenue being spent on the old school.
With all of the council deeply involved in the repurposing of this building, it wasn’t hard to find the councillor who felt an even deeper connection to this new town building.
Brad Altwasser is not only a town council member, he is the Fire Chief for the Bredenbury Volunteer Fire Department and is very excited to have the space for the town’s fire equipment, but also a nice training area for the twenty active firefighters.
When asked to give information about the old school, Councilor Altwasser eagerly sat down and emailed the following:
“Bredenbury has a volunteer fire department that serves our community and part of the RM of Saltcoats. The costs associated with the fire department are shared between the Town of Bredenbury and the RM of Saltcoats. It is important to keep a fire department in our community because it allows us to keep the property and people safer. It’s quicker as well it keeps insurance rates lower. The Fire Department not only fights fires, they also do controlled burns of areas of the municipality that are overgrown; as well oftentimes they do traffic control if there is a Highway accident.”
He continued, “Currently, there are approximately 20 active fire members. We meet once a month to go over training protocols and review and recent call out events.”
Speaking about the history, Altwasser said, “The Fire Department used to be located in a small fire hall that was behind the town office. We started off with two fire trucks. Over time our fleet and our needs have expanded. In approximately 1980 we moved our fire hall to part of the town shop. We have a shared space with the municipality public works department; both public works and the fire department were feeling the pressure of not having enough space. The current fire department fleet is two fire trucks, one wildland truck and one first responder vehicle.”
The discussion had been an ongoing one for the town for some time now. Brad explained, “The old school in Bredenbury has been a topic of conversation for council ever since it closed approximately in 2000. It was passed through a few different owners. The Town of Bredenbury came to occupy it approximately 5 years ago through tax enforcement. The challenge then became what to do with the old school. We talked about tearing it down, we talked about selling it, and we talked about leasing it.”
He continued, “After inspecting the school with the council and our commercial building inspector it was decided the structure was in too good of a shape to tear it down. We didn’t really want to sell it either because we had lots of interest in the community in retaining the land surrounding the school; residents use the school grounds for ball, soccer, tennis, basketball, horseshoes and disc golf. It is also a great area to hold community festivals and fun events. So the Council decided we at least wanted to retain the land.
Then at the Council meetings, we started discussing building an addition onto the town shop because we needed more storage space. We were utilizing the old school for cold storage as well as the old fire hall, but we recently sold the old fire hall to a local business to reconstruct as a showroom for the business.
Then we thought maybe the school gym could be used as a fire hall. We got out the tape measure and measured the area and sure enough, the space was large enough to host our fleet. Then we started on the challenge of renovation. We started with shingling the roof, then we installed four large overhead doors so the trucks can get in and out. Currently, we are in the process of updating the electrical and plumbing in the facility. After that, we will install windows and lights and a new furnace if required. Finally, we will complete the carpentry portion of the building such as bathroom renovation, adding tables and chairs, etc.”
I’m the future, Councillor Altwasser mentioned, “The fire hall will use the old gym for the trucks and hoses. The old library will be used for a training room. The bathroom and storage room across from the old Grade 5-6 room will be renovated for a bathroom facility and washer. A small room located between the library and the gym will be used as an office space. We will utilize the old ball storage room for the first responders to have their own space and room with a separate entrance. We hope to have the space open for use by the fall of 2020. We are so thankful for the support of the community and the financial support from the RM of Saltcoats for this project.”
The fire department is excited as Fire Chief Altwasser explained, “We look forward to moving into our new space. We also look forward to adding more to every room in the old school in the near future. Stay tuned.”
Thank you to Brad Altwasser for the great information.
By Gary Horseman
(Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)
garyfourtownjournal@gmail.com
Four-Town+ Journal