It was all cheers and celebration last week when MHA Kevin Pollard stood in front of a few hundred people at the 24th Annual Mining Conference and announced that government approved funding that will start the planning and construction of a new fire hall and community complex for Baie Verte.
“In February 2010 this town was hit with devastation when their fire services were wiped out due to a major fire at the town’s fire hall,” explained Mr. Pollard. “I remember the next day, walking into the town office and seeing everyone was already well underway working on a solution to the problem – since then the town has come together and today we see the results of that work.”
Since the 2010 fire, the Baie Verte Volunteer Fire Department rebuilt much of their resources in the way of trucks and equipment – however a suitable place to store that equipment has been lacking. The town proposed that a new building be constructed which would house the fire all along with the community centre under one roof, as the current community centre is in deteriorating condition.
The previous council commissioned the plans of such a new complex, which came in the price range of five to six million dollars.
At the time, then mayor Gerald Acreman said the town was aiming to build a facility that could service not only Baie Verte, but the entire peninsula, should the need arise.
Now, a year and a half later, this $2 million in funding will be phase one of the project and hopefully bring some sort of conclusion to the sometimes terrible nightmare that’s plagued a community since that fateful day in February.
Mayor Gerry Burke said many key players were instrumental over the past while in getting this project approved and successfully implemented.
President and CEO of Rambler Metals and Mining George Ogilvie accompanied mayor Burke to meetings with government a couple weeks ago, and helped present the case from the company’s perspective about the importance of this project.
“The town has reached an agreement with Rambler that will allow us to pursue a number of capital works projects over the coming years,” said Mr. Burke. “In addition to that, next year the company will be making a considerable contribution to the construction of the new Rambler Community Centre.
“We believe business development is a key to our town’s economic sustainability during the down phases of the mining cycle that we know are coming, because we’ve been through them already,” he said.
