Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood petitions against temporary fire hall

Residents of Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood are petitioning against the city's plan to put a temporary fire hall in the area.

In an open letter, the Strathcona Residents Association said a fire hall would make the neighbourhood noisy, less walkable, and remove one of the block's few city-owned green spaces.

"I was very shocked and dismayed by the city's plan to change our lovely green space into, essentially, a parking lot for fire trucks," neighbourhood resident Dana Deschene said. 

Earlier this year, the city announced its plan to rezone the lot at 722 Gore Ave., which sits at the northeast corner of the avenue's intersection with Union Street. There, they plan to put up two temporary fire truck bays and a 449-square-metre, eight-metre tall hall which would supplement Vancouver Fire Rescue Services' Downtown Eastside fire hall.

The hall would supplant a park.

"People are upset about this," Deschene said. "I'm sure the smarties down at city hall can find a different spot."

The hall would dispatch fire trucks near the Georgia Viaduct, the busy Union Street and Adanac bikeways and a social housing project. 

As of early Friday, an online petition against the project had received more than 840 signatures.

Capt. Matthew Trudeau, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services' public information officer, told On The Coast that the Downtown Eastside fire hall, six blocks away, is not big enough to accommodate the record number of calls they are receiving — up to 1,900 a month.

When it was first established, six officers worked out of the Downtown Eastside fire hall. Now, 14 officers operate at once out of the hall, and one fire truck must remain parked outside.

"We have a capacity issue right now," he said. "The hall was never built, fundamentally, for that many people."

He said a temporary fire hall would get the truck off the street, and offer fire crews more space until the old hall can be rebuilt to facilitate more officers. He added the fire hall needs to be in the neighbourhood, where it receives a high volume of calls. 

Green space, traffic concerns

A summary of public consultation with the Hogan's Alley Society non-profit and "Chinatown organizations" posted to the city's website said it received concerns about the loss of the green space.

"We recognize green space is important," it said in its response. "Finding suitable and available land has been challenging; however, the proposed plan preserves as much green space as possible." 

In the report, the city said it received concerns that the fire hall would increase congestion on Gore Avenue and impact pedestrians, especially when the new St. Paul's Hospital opens. 

According to Coun. Pete Fry, the hall would dispatch trucks onto Gore Avenue, instead of cyclist-laden Union Street.

He said the lot is not actually a park; it was originally intended to be a highway on-ramp, and became a de facto greenspace after being left alone, he said.

Fry said city planners haven't proposed other possible sites. Residents of the public have suggested building the station underneath the viaduct, but Fry said that may be unsafe due to earthquakes. 

Deschene said she hopes the city chooses to enhance the green space and plant more trees instead of removing existing ones. 

"Joni Mitchell's getting old, so we can't have her fight all our battles," she said. "We need to not be paving green space for parking lots."

Fry said the city will hold a public hearing on the fate of the lot but did not specify when.