Fernie City Council has delivered its most decisive statement yet on the future of the new fernie firehall project. At the August 19 Special Meeting and Committee of the Whole, council voted unanimously to reject a motion that would have shifted the project’s location from Prentice Park to 902 2nd Avenue.
The decision wasn’t easy. For months, the firehall project has been the subject of intense community debate, with concerns raised about cost, location, legal covenants, and the loss of park space. At this latest meeting, council again listened to residents, acknowledged the divide, and reviewed both the staff report and options for additional public consultation.
What emerged was a clear consensus: changing course now would bring higher costs, increased delays, and ultimately higher taxes. For a project already years in the making, councillors concluded that moving forward at the current site was the least disruptive and most responsible choice.
The August 19 meeting reaffirmed that the council is not blind to community concerns. Each councillor weighed the pros and cons, heard speakers from the gallery, and considered whether polling or other mechanisms could better capture public sentiment. Yet in the end, the practical realities—project timelines, funding commitments, and escalating construction costs—outweighed the case for reconsideration.
Even councillors who had previously hesitated to endorse Prentice Park acknowledged that it was the better, or at least the less damaging, of the two alternatives presented. Their unanimous vote underscored a collective recognition that prolonging the debate would serve neither the City nor its taxpayers.
Watch the Special Meeting here:
The firehall remains one of Fernie’s most significant capital projects in decades. With a $16 million budget and a major grant application underway, the City is pursuing an investment that aims to meet public safety needs for decades to come. The project continues to advance, with milestones achieved and the next steps focused on finalizing funding, refining design, and preparing for a 2026 construction start.
Still, disagreement will not vanish with this vote. For some, the loss of a portion of Prentice Park is too high a price; for others, concerns about the covenant and legal process remain unsettled. Yet council’s unanimous stand makes it clear that the City is determined to see the project through.
Fernie is at a crossroads familiar to many small communities: balancing heritage and recreational spaces with the infrastructure required for safety and growth. The council’s decision on August 19 was not about perfect solutions, but about moving forward in the face of difficult trade-offs.
Residents may continue to disagree, and criticism will no doubt persist. But the choice is made, and the firehall project is moving forward. The question now is not whether Fernie will build its new firehall at Prentice Park, but how the community will shape its future around that decision.
