© 2023, Christian Cassidy
Brandon’s former Central Fire Station is up for sale again, this time for $1.35 million. Here’s a look back at the building that served Brandonites as a fire hall for 99 years.
Brandon Weekly Sun, April 7, 1910
The City of Brandon saw unprecedented urban growth during the first decade of the twentieth century and with all that new development came an increase in the number of fires.
The city’s volunteer fire service was professionalized in late 1909 under its first salaried fire chief John Melhuish. Next on the agenda was to replace the old fire hall that dated back to 1882.
In July 1910, taxpayers voted in favour of a spending bylaw that permitted the city to borrow $27,000 to build a new central fire hall. (Unfortunately, this was too late for it to be in service for what is likely the city's largest fire - the destruction of the Brandon Asylum for the Insane in November 1910.)
With several large buildings slated to start construction in 1911, including a new CPR passenger depot, the six-storey Prince Edward Hotel, and a new collection of asylum buildings, having a modern fire hall was more important than ever.
March 31, 1911, Winnipeg Free Press
Prominent Brandon-based architect William A. Elliott submitted his plans for the new fire hall in late 1910. The city's power and light committee made a few alterations before the building was put to tender in March 1911.
The tender called for a three-storey building with basement measuring 43 feet x 88 feet with a 90-foot hose drying tower topped with a bell deck. It would be constructed of brick with reinforced concrete and located on the site of the old fire hall. The reinforced concrete beams carrying the floors above the main floor measuring 41 feet would be the longest such beams in the province.
The winner of the contract was local builder A. E. Bullock with a bid of $33,000 which did not include plumbing and electrical work. At first, the committee refused to award the contract thinking that the bids they received were inflated but after further study came to the realization that it had vastly underestimated the cost of the project. It would have to find ways to make up the $15,000 shortfall compared to what it was allowed to borrow under the spending bylaw.
Demolition on the old fire hall took place in April 1912. This included its tower which the Brandon Sun said "was regarded as the finest piece of architecture and brick work in the city."
It appears that some bricks from the demolished hall were used to built a temporary structure nearby for the fire department used until the new building was ready.
November 30, 1911, Brandon Sun Weekly
Slated to be completed by November 15th, 1911, construction fell behind schedule but the fire department had to relocate o a permanent building before the winter came. On Monday, November 27, with just the first floor finished, the move to the new fire hall was made.
On January 31, 1912, an official opening banquet attended by 200 VIPs was held on the main floor of the building which was christened "Central Fire Station".
The finishing touches on the building, such as the installation of ornamental iron work, was not completed until May.
The main floor of the building was divided between stables and apparatus. Chief Melhuish had travelled to an international fire fighting convention in Milwaukee during construction to check out the latest in motorized fire fighting vehicles but the department wouldn't be fully motorized until the 1920s.
The Central Fire Station served the citizens of Brandon for 99 years.
Under renovation in 2015
In 2004, Brandon city council began the process of finding a site for a new central fire hall. The building opened in 2010.
The former Central Fire Station continued to be owned by the city until 2014 when Sampson Engineering of Brandon bought the building for $100,000 and began extensive renovations.
As Prairie Firehouse, September 2016
Prairie Firehouse, a locally owned restaurant, opened in the building in 2015. The lease ran out in 2020 and the space became The Firehall Event Venue.
The building was put up for sale in summer 2023.
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