FIRE STATION SITE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 140, 16 June 1933, Page 8

FIRE STATION SITE

FINALITY DESIRED THE BOARD'S POSITION A PERMANENT HOME Unless it can secure a lease in perpetuity or the freehold rights of the present Central Fire Station site, the Wellington I'ire Board is not prepared to remain on the site, according to statements made at the monthly meeting today, over which Mr. N. \V. Nelson presided. It was stated that to make the present building suitable would cost too'much to justify the work, and that, to delay the transfer to another site would increase the cost of the move and possibly' result in the sites at present offering being unavailable. Members expressed their eagerness to see the matter brought to finality, and on gaining an assurance from Mr. W. Duncan, a member of the City Council, that the council would reach a definite decision at the next .meeting of the finance committee in a fortnight's time, it was decided to defer further discussion. When the matter was raised at this morning's meeting it was stated that negotiations had been carried on long onough, and that unless finality was reached by the council the board would havo to go ahead and decide for itself. In reply to a question, Mr. Duncan said that the council had not completed its business until about 2 a.m. today, and had not been able to decide the fire station site question. Mr. W. H. Bennett asked whether the board could give an indication of how long it was prepared to remain on the present site if it was decided that the j present was not an opportune time for tho spending of a large sum of money. Mr; S. S. Dean: We are prepared to stay here for-ever. It has cost us £1000 to argue the point. Mr. M. Marks: I don't think you can make the place habitable for under £15,000. Mr. Bennett said that he could cxi plain his position, because it was always the same. ' He did not' want the mistakes of the past in regard to the laying. out of roads, etc., repeated. He did not wish to do anything that would tie the city up in connection with the civic block, the development of which might be nothing in the next thirty years, and would object to a permanent building being placed on the present. central site. Would the board remain on the site for, says, .ton, fifteen, twenty, or thirty years? • ■.',.; MEN TO BE CONSIDERED. Mr. Nelson said he had seen it mentioned that the present. building could be put. in order for £3000, but the board's reports showed that that could not be done. Further, the men had been very long-suffering over the matter, but the. board had to remember that it had to deal with them not only as men, but as a union, and if .the union claimed that the quarters were not up to requirements lie was not sure that .they would not be right. Mr. Dean pointed put that in addition to paying rent for the premises, the board was paying £900 yearly for the accommodation of men who could not live at the station, and Mr. Nelson: said there was an additional sum of £2200 for rent. Mr. Dean: To buy and build will cost us no mOre than what we are paying at present, and we will have an up-to-date, efficient station. ; , Mr. Bennett: Then I take it that whether you stay here or not,'you have got to have a new station? - Mr. Duncan considered the present site the best, and said ho was going to stand out for it. That was the idea behind his notice of motion in regard to i the civic block. • : THE CIVIC BLOCK. "V.Mr. Bennett said that the depths of "the ■ three leasehold properties, including that on which the. station was placed, would be required for the civic block, and although' there would probably be objections, there also had been .objections over the block behind the Royal Oak Hotel, but no complaints were received now. Ho would support the council in giving the board'a site on a neighbouring corner. Mr. R. Semplo, M.F., said he favoured the civic block scheme because tho city needed.a new library, the .Town Hall was* obsolete, and the council had to pay rent for offices, while the Engineer's department' was housed in unsuitable quarters. The area proposed would have to be preserved or the city would be pinched for room in the future. With the change in tho economic situation and the consequent shortage of money, it became necessary to defer the scheme. Since the board was driven out of its present site, ho thought tho Clyde. Quay site was the bust alternative. Mr. Dean: IHI guarantee that if v wc were running this as private individuals we would not tolerate it-.for a minute. THE COST TO THE CITY. Mr. Marks: Much has been said of the cost to the city,,,arid X think an estimate should be prepared of what it will cost the «ityif we build on our chosen site, as: compared with what it costs now. ' , Mr. Dean: It will cost us nothing Mr. Nelson said it had to be remembered that the board hadbeen paying for the new sub-stations at the rate of £4000! per year, but the last payment of £3000 would be mado this year. If tho new building cost £55,000 the annual cost for interest and sinking fund would bo about £4000;- as compared with £4230 at the present time. In reply to Mr. Marks, Mr. Bennett said that the council was not concorncd about losing tho rent for the present building, as the council could put it to good use. ■■■.•■ At the close of the discussion, Mr. Semple .remarked that he considered the Clyde Quay site better than the present one. If the shift were postponed for ten years it would cost thousands of pounds more to secure a site. . Mr. Dean said that a big argument lay in the fact- that a building could be erected cheaply at present, and that valuable service to the city would be done by the employment provided. ■Mr. Bennett said that in his opinion —and, havwig been a. builder in the city for thirty years, he could.claim to be- something of an expert—the site at tho Corporation yard could bo: made perfectly safe.