Occupancy of a new fire hall on Colborne Road in Sarnia is now expected by Christmas.
Sarnia Fire and Rescue Services Chief Bryan Van Gaver told Sarnia News Today they're counting down the days.
"It's getting pretty exciting now," said Van Gaver. "It's been a long process, so we're quite excited about getting crews in there and, by all accounts, it should be in the next couple of weeks."
Van Gaver said interior work is rapidly nearing completion.
"Right now we are finishing up some kitchen tiling, doing some millwork, you know putting doors on cabinets. Getting the place all cleaned up and making some final adjustments and tweaks on doors and things of that nature to make sure everything's working right," he said.
Van Gaver said exterior work will still be progressing once the building is occupied.
"Our first priority once our [fire] crews get moved to the new station is doing asbestos abatement in the old station," he said. "We're not sure how long that's going to take. I don't believe very long, and then when that's done we'll be ready to tear the old station down. I think we could probably do that in a matter of a couple days and then do ground prep on the location of the old building and get it ready to put a driveway in."
Van Gaver said trucks will use the rear of the new station to enter and exit the property until the driveway is complete.
He said while paving may be postponed to the spring, a grand opening is being planned for mid-January.
The $7 million project faced material delays and labour shortages, which impacted scheduling.
In August, Van Gaver expected the fire hall would be complete by November.