With regard to the Sidney fire hall site review (March 20 PNR) to be undertaken by Bradley Shuya Architects Inc. on behalf of the Town of Sidney, it seems that the scope is limited. It appears to contemplate only the possibility of building a new fire hall on one of six sites.
As proposed earlier in a letter to the Town and the PNR in February, an alternative exists that is broader in scope that would exceed all current criteria and would ultimately be more cost effective.
This original proposal invited a joint venture between the Town and District of North Saanich.
However, in the face of a lack of interest from North Saanich, a similar result could be achieved by Sidney acting on its own in a three-stage process: first, build a new town hall south of the Mary Winspear Centre; second, build a new fire hall/ambulance centre on that old town hall land; third, sell the existing fire hall to offset the costs.
This would result in an outstanding gateway to the Town of Sidney that would help to give Sidney a distinct and attractive entry point. It would provide a unified emergency services precinct surrounding the RCMP.
And it would provide a long-term positive solution to the economic survival of the Mary Winspear Centre, the centre of our Saanich Peninsula community and cultural activities.
Richard Holmes, North Saanich
