Farmers make pitch for Ganges fire hall

Ganges fire hall site on prime real estate in downtown Ganges.

Driftwood file photo by Derrick Lundy

The Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute has come up with a creative solution for dealing with the Ganges fire hall should a new location be approved: give it to the organization to compensate for yet another loss to the island’s agricultural land base.

Salt Spring Fire Protection District trustees heard a proposal letter from the institute at their regular monthly meeting Monday night. The letter suggests the current fire hall could become a year-round indoor farmers’ market along the lines of Granville Island or Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

“I think it’s a proposal that deserves further discussion — it’s a bit premature to make an adjudication,” chair Michael Schubart said of the idea.

“I think it’s certainly something the community as a whole has to be aware of and have some input into.”

Trustee Bruce Patterson commented such a transfer would mean the loss of funds that selling the fire hall property would generate, but if the community supported having the farmers’ market it might lend support to the new fire hall project as a whole.

Transferring the hall to the farmers would be a way of mitigating loss of agricultural land at Brinkworthy, according to the letter. Fire trustees currently have an application before the provincial Agricultural Land Commission to allow non-farm use of the property so that a new fire hall can be built.

Farmers’ Institute vice-president Tony Threlfall explained the following day his organization has played a major part in Salt Spring’s development as a community ever since 1895, and it would like to continue that role by revitalizing Ganges with a new focus for tourism and locals alike. The move would benefit the agricultural community with a permanent place for food-related stalls and draw in people who never venture up Hereford or McPhillips avenues.

“Visitors from the marina stick to one side of Lower Ganges and hardly ever cross the street,” Threlfall said. “Ganges is sort of a dead zone.”

“We feel this would be the ideal place, and the idea is it would become the central hub of downtown Ganges.”

Threlfall pointed out almost every piece of major community development in the past 20 years has come at the expense of agriculture lands, including the high school, the swimming pool and the upcoming fire hall, if it goes through.

“It seems to us that maybe in the scheme of things, this is a chance for Ganges to come back to agriculture, and once again the Farmers’ Institute can be instrumental in revitalizing Ganges,” he said.

Threlfall said the Farmers’ Institute submitted its proposal now because “we just wanted to get our oar in early.” At this point the members envision renovating the existing hall to keep its historic qualities.

In other fire board news, trustee Ron Chamney moved to rescind a motion he had previously made to borrow money to finance new training ground props. Chamney explained he felt the board should work with the newly formed Salt Spring Fire-Rescue Foundation on fundraising initiatives first.

Chamney also stated the board should think about supporting the foundation with action and not just words by creating a budget line to provide seed money for infrastructure start-up costs, such as a designated computer.