Local contractor starts demolition works today on old Geraldton fire station building

Geraldton’s old abandoned fire station building, which is at the centre of contamination concerns, is facing the wrecking ball from today. Contractor Greg Hipper began the three-week job to bulldoze the derelict Durlacher Street building today starting with the living quarters. “The slab is not coming up, just the building walls and the roof,” he said. “They have asked us to leave the slabs behind.” The soil at the site, which was the city’s fire station for almost 50 years, is thought to be contaminated with toxic firefighting foam. It has been a thorn in the side of Emergency Services Minister Fran Logan since he became Emergency Services minister in 2017, finding it had been vacated the year before The City of Greater Geraldton had hoped to acquire the site — offering the State Government $1 for it in January last year — to use as a car park, by sealing it with bitumen to trap the contaminated soil. However Mr Logan said this was not legally possible. “As soon as the use of that site is altered for any purpose other than a fire station, it will be necessary to do the examination and remediation of the site,” he said. Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said the demolition was long overdue and a welcome step in the right direction. “I know not just council, but our community, will be elated to finally see this eyesore gone from our CBD,” he said. “It is important that we continue to work hard where we can to acquire land and buildings before they become dilapidated and create negative space in our community.” The site is already used as an unofficial carpark, and last October Mr Logan said it might be possible to cover it with asphalt without transferring ownership. “Whether the site will then be sealed and people happen to park on it is another matter,” he said. When The Geraldton Guardian contacted Mr Logan’s office this week his spokesman was unaware of the demolition, which he said would have been initiated by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. DFES assistant commissioner Brad Delavale confirmed that Mr Hipper’s firm Batavia Timber and Salvage had been contracted to do the job. “The site is surplus to current operational needs and DFES is working to transfer the site to the City of Greater Geraldton as per State Government policy,” he said.